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TYPE STUDIES 



FROM 



THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES 



•?^>^- 




Physiographic map of the United States, giving the names of the principal 
mountains, plateaus, and plains. 



TYPE STUDIES 



EROM 

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE 
UNITED STATES 

FIRST SERIES 

BY 

CHARLES A. McMURRY, Ph.D. 



THE MACiMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1904 

All rights reserved 



liBl?AI?V *,* .'CONGRESS 
J^tm Annies f»Rr#»ivecf 
OCT 26 1904 
^ (Jooyrf^ht Entry 

CLASS ^ XXo. No. 




i\> 



.n 



Copyright, 1904, 
By the MA*(5^i|.LAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1904. 



J. S. Cashing 6i Co. — lierwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



PREFACE 

The series of twenty-five type studies included in 
tliis volume is designed to illustrate in some detail the 
second stage of geography study. The previous volume 
of "• Excursions and Lessons in Home Geography " con- 
tains the introductory lessons in geography for third 
and fourth grades. It is the geography of the home and 
neigliborhood. 

The present volume is a series of simple type studies 
on the United States, designed to introduce children to 
the geography of our own country. It is assumed that 
the chief stress in early years (fourth, fifth, and sixth 
grades) should be laid upon American geography, though 
other countries are not neglected. Where a standard 
geography is used, these type studies may be run parallel 
with the regular lessons to enrich special and important 
topics. 

The full oral treatment of tliese topics in the latter part 
of the fourth grade and in the fifth grade is probably the 
best method of handling them wherever this is possible. 

The value of tlie type in its rich descriptive content 
and as a striking representative of many similar objects 
is abundantly illustrated in these lessons. 

The organization of a large body of interesting and 
instructive geographical facts about such a centre of 
study exemplifies one of the chief points in method. 



Vi PREFACE 

Nearly all the lessons included in this volume have 
been repeatedly worked out with classes of children in 
fourth and fifth grades. 

The " Special Method in Geography," published by The 
Macmillan Company, works out the full course of study 
in geography in all the grades and discusses at length the 
method of treating these types. The present volume is 
the execution in its details of the second step in the 
general plan laid out in the '^ Special Method." In the 
further execution of this plan, the author contemplates 
another series of type studies of North America, which 
will deal with the more complex and difficult topics of 
our own continent. This will include the more compre- 
hensive physiographic topics, the larger manufacturing 
and commercial subjects, and some of the large cities as 
centres of population and trade. 



CONTENTS 



The Hudson River 

\/ The Hoosac Tunnel . « . . 

Cod-fisheries ...... 

Niagara Falls and the Commerce of the 

The James River 

A Coal-mine 

Orange Groves in Florida . 

The Illinois River 

The Prairies 

The Pineries and Lumbering 

The Upper Mississippi .... 

The Hard-wood Forest Region of the Oh 

The Ohio River Valley . 
" Minneapolis 

Lake Superior 

The Surface of Tennessee 

Trip on the Lower ^Mississippi 

Cotton and Cotton Plantations . 

Sugar Production 

A Cattle Ranch 

Pike's Peak and Vic inity . 

Irrigation and the Bk^ Ditch at Denver 

The Great Basin of Utah and Nevada 

A Gold ^Mine in California . 

The Salmon Fisheries of the Columbia 

vii 



Gre 



AT L 



V 



ALLEY 



PAGE 

1 

15 

23 

- 39 

48 

63 

81 

89 

99 

108 

120 

132 

113 

154 

lf)3 

175 

181 

198 

209 

218 

233 

241 

252 

21)1 



TYPE STUDIES FROM THE 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES 



o>^o 



THE HUDSON RIVER 

The Hudson River springs from the steep, rocky, 
mountain slopes of the Aclirondacks, dark Avith pine 
woods, and finds its mouth at New York Bay and the 
Narrows, just below the end of Manhattan Island. This 
river is so broad and deep just west of New York city 
that it has never been bridged. In fact, there is no bridge 
across the river till one gets beyond West Point in tlie 
Highlands. Ever since tlie days when Henry Hudson 
and his crew on the Half Moon sailed up this broad stream, 
it has been one of the most interesting of American rivers 
to the traveller. 

The waters of the Hudson fill a great, trough-like valley 
about 150 miles long. And yet it is not wholly the 
waters of the river, for the salt waters of the ocean 
have poured in with its rising tides and lielped to fill 
up this trough. The whole trough of the Hudson used 
to lie above the level of the sea, and in those days a 
small, shallow river flowed down past ^Manhattan, but 
for some cause the land sank down till the great valley 
was somewhat below the sea-level, and now the tides 

B 1 



TYPE STUDIES 



from the ocean reach as far as Albany. The trough of the 
Hudson is called a drowned valley, and it might be called 
an arm of the sea, as Henry Hudson thought it was when 
he first sailed up its channel for many miles, hoping to 
find an outlet to another ocean to the north or west. 

Unlike most rivers, the banks of the Hudson are in- 
teresting to the traveller down to its very mouth at New 




FiPx. 1. 
The drowned valley of the Hudson, looking north from West Point. 

York city. Even Manhattan Island consists partly of 
rock ridges rising two hundred feet above the Hudson. 
For nearly sixty miles just above New York, the river 
passes through a rugged and even mountainous region. 
In the neighborliood of West Point tlie river has cut its 
way tlirough a range of mountains called the Higlilands, 
which stretched directly across its path. The deep, nar- 



THE HUDSON 11 IV Ell 



row gorge which the river has carved out through these 
rugged mountaius disphiys the most interesting scenery 
of the river. The national military academy of West 
Point lies like a nest two hundred feet above the river, in 
the very centre of this mountain scenery. 

North of the Highlands the banks of the Hudson are 
flattened out into a broader valley. Twelve miles to the 




Fig. 2. 

A view in New York harbor, showing the vessels coming and going. 

west are seen the blue ridges of the Catskills, witli their 
deep valleys, summer hotels, and broad mountain views. 
They are a much visited summer resort. 

From the deck of one of the Hudson River steamers 
one may get the best views of the changing scenery in 
passing northward. In tlie summer and autumn these 
steamers leave the New York wliarf daily at eiglit forty- 
five in tlie morning, and reach Albany at six in tlie even- 
ing. This gives a nine hours' trip well filled witli 
beautiful scenery. At New York city the Hudson Iviver 



4 TYPE STUDIES 

is enlivened with ships and boats of all descriptions, from 
a rowboat to an ocean liner. On both sides of the river 
are miles of docks and piers of the great ship companies, 
and tlie lofty bnildings of lower New York tower far 
above the older buildings. 

Before leaving tlie shores of Manhattan Island, we see 
the steep black rocks of the Palisades, stretching like a 
mighty wall along the western shore, with scarcely room 
enough at their base for a house or factory. For fifteen 
miles they stand along the river's side almost unbroken, 
crowned with forests at the top, and rising more than three 
hundred feet abruptly from the river. 

On the east side above Yonkers, on the wooded slopes 
and hilltops, are seen some of the villas and country homes 
of wealthy New York families. Nearer the shore, but 
hidden by the bushes and trees, is Sunnyside, where Irv- 
ing lived, and, a little farther on, Tarrytown and Sleepy 
Hollow, famous in connection with Irving's life and 
writings. The widening of the river at Tappan Bay 
and Haverstraw Bay gives it the appearance of a placid 
lake at one place four miles across, and from the sloping 
hillsides many beautiful villas look down upon these 
broad stretches of the Hudson. 

Passing into the Highlands, the stream narrows, as its 
waters have found it difficult to cut their Avay through the 
hard rock of the mountain roots which close in upon it 
along this rocky gorge. 

A visit to West Point, by climbing the well-built road 
which winds up to the level plateau, is well worth our time. 
Many famous generals of the Mexican and Civil wars re- 
ceived here their military training. The trophies of old guns 
and weapons of war in the museum are of curious interest. 



THE HUDSON BIVER 



The broad parade grounds, where the young soldiers are 
drilled, are surrounded by pleasant shaded walks. 

Four hundred feet higher up the hillside is Fort Put- 
nam, from which may be had a broad survey of the river 
and mountains. Below the grounds, along the wooded 
slopes, one may climb down to the rocky spurs of the 
mountains, which dip their barren sides into the river. 

The view northward from West Point, perhaps the 
most beautiful on the river, stretches away between moun- 
tains that rise from twelve to sixteen hundred feet above 
the stream. 

During the Revolution the guns of this strongly fortified 
position, commanding the narrows below, kept the control 
of the river for the Americans. 

After coming out of the Highlands, the great passenger 
steamer passes under the high railroad bridge at Pough- 
keepsie. Tliis 
city of twenty- 
five thousand 
people lies on a 
plain some two 
hundred feet 
above the river, 
with a back- 
ground of hills 
mucli higher. 
Vassar College, 

i» 1 T Railway brid^^re across the Hudson at Poughkeepsie. 

a tamous scJiool j ^ 

for women, and several otlier schools, are here. 

West of the Hudson the Catskill ^Mountains come in 
view, but the rest of the journey to Albau)' is less interest- 
ing from a scenic point of view. 




6 



TYPE STUDIES 



Besides the great passenger steamers which make their 
trips each day and night up and down the river, we notice 
a great amount of heavy freighting on canal-boats and 
barges and freiglit steamers. A tugboat or steamer is 
seen trailing a whole fleet of heavy-laden canal-boats 
down the river. 




Fig. 4. 

The forest-covered slopes of the Adiroiidacks, with a beautiful lake nestled in 
the midst of the forest. (Copyrighted, 1888, by S. R. Stoddard, Glens 
Falls, N.Y.) 

Barges loaded w^ith brick or stone are constantly sent 
down the stream to New York. All along the valley of 
the lower Hudson are extensive clay beds of excellent 
quality for brick making. At various points along the 
shores one sees immense l)rick-yards. By means of the 
river barges tliese bricks can be easily and cheaply sent to 



THE HUDSON lUVER 7 

New York, where they are used in vast quantities. I'he 
valley of the Hudson is said to be the largest brick manu- 
facturing district in the world. From the stone quarries 
along the river are also obtained great quantities of flag- 
stone for pavements in New York and neighboring cities ; 
also crushed stone, cement, and lime. There are five 
hundred stone quarries in one county near tlie banks of 
the Hudson. All the cities and towns along tlie Hudson 
are centres of important manufacturing, and this calls for 
the shipment of many raw materials by boat up and down 
the river, such as coal, lumber, iron, and grain. 

On both sides of the Hudson River are double-track 
railroads, the New York Central on the east and the West 
Shore on the west, which do a very heavy freight and 
passenger traffic. In a number of places on both sides, 
the railroads pass through long tunnels cut through the 
rocky cliffs projecting into the river. Anthony's Nose, on 
the east side, is thus pierced by a tunnel, and another 
passes under the plateau upon which West Point stands. 
The railroad traffic along this valley is very extensive. 
A good part of the ice used in New York city comes from 
the ice-houses along the valley sides. A large proportion 
also of the milk and vegetables for the great cities is shipped 
from the farms and gardens bordering on the Hudson. 

From the above description, it is clear tliat the Hudson 
Valley is a very important traffic route both by water and 
by rail. The chief importance, however, of the valley of 
the Hudson is not seen in these things, but by a broader 
survey of the connections of this valley with western New 
York and tlie Great Lakes, and with Lake Champhiin. 
From Albany, the head of navigation on the Hudson, a 
canal is carried to the foot of Lake Champhiin. This is 



8 



TYPE STUDIES 



an easy means of transport for the lumber, stone, iron ore, 
and slate from the Adirondacks, Vermont, and Canada. 
One of the largest lumber-yards in the United States is 
at Albany, where this canal connects with the Hudson. 




Fig. 5. 
The Erie Canal and other water routes of New York and vicinity. 

From Albany along the valley of the Mohawk across 
the plain of northern New York to Buffalo extends the 
famous Erie Canal. It is 363 miles long and cost nearly 
110,000,000 when first built, but much more has been spent 
upon it since. The great amount of money spent upon 



THE HUDSON RIVER 9 

this canal, and the trunk railroad lines which run parallel 
to it, explain to some extent the nnportance of connecting 
the commerce of the Great Lakes with the Hudson and 
New York city. The Erie Canal is the only canal that 
has been built to connect the waters of the Atlantic along 
the coast of the United States with the Great Lakes and 
the great agricultural states of the west. The New York 
Central has four tracks connecting Albany with Buffalo, 
and the Lake Shore has two tracks. Heavy trains are 
passing constantly botli ways on these lines, and the ton- 
nage is enormous. But Ave are not able to understand 
why so much freight should pass along the Mohawk Val- 
ley and down the Hudson till Ave observe that there is no 
other low-level, easy Avay of getting across the Alleghany 
Mountains to the Atlantic. All the other railroads through 
southern Ncav York and Penns3dvania are compelled to 
climb more than two thousand feet over mountain ridges 
to get to Pittsburg or Buffalo, Avhile farther south in Vir- 
ginia the mountains are still more rugged. The shipment 
of grain, meat, and other heavy products by way of the 
Great Lakes to Buffalo is enormous, and most of these 
goods find their Avay down the Mohawk Valley and the 
Hudson to Ncav York. 

By this broad surA^ey of the commerce of the United 
States, Ave are able to see that the Hudson River and 
New York city are the outlet toward the sea for the 
richest and most productiA^e interior parts of the United 
States, and the people of Ncav York state are now seriously 
considering the expenditure of one hundred millions of 
dollars in enlarging and deepening the Erie Canal. 

The importance of tins traffic route is further seen by 
the fact that '' 80 per cent of the people and 90 per cent of 



10 



TYPE STUDIES 



the wealth of New York state are in the counties along 
the canal and the Hudson River." 

The cheapness with which raw materials can be secured 
over this main traffic route has made the cities along it 




Fig. 6. 
The State Capitol at Albany. (Copyrighted by G. P. Hall & Son, N.Y., 1899.) 

the centres for the most extensive manufacturing, as 
Rochester, Utica, Albany, Troy, and many others. 

Albany on the upper Hudson has a very favorable loca- 
tion at tlie junction of the two canals from Lake Cham- 
plain and Lake Erie. Tlie Ncav York Central, the Fitch- 
burg route tlirougli the Hoosac Tunnel to Boston, and 



I 



THE HUDSON EIVER 



11 



other important lines make it also a leading railroad 
centre. 

Just before joining the Hudson the Mohawk drops over 
a rock ledge, giving the important water-power which has 
built up the manufactures of Cohoes. There is also Avater- 
pow^er at Little 
Falls and at 
Glens Falls. 

The valley of 
the Hudson has 
witnessed many 
interest ing 
events in Ameri- 
can history. 
From the days 
of its first ex- 
ploration by 
Henry Hudson 
till the close of 
the Revolution, 
it was the scene 
of great military campaigns. Tlie first settlements along 
the valley by tlie Dutch and Englisli, the dealings with 
the INIohawks and other Iroquois tribes, the campaigns 
of the French and Indian wars, Burgoyne's expedition and 
its battles, the story of Arnohl and Andre, tlie operations 
of Wasliington, the important forts at many points along 
tlie Hudson, the Mohawk, and Lake Champlain have 
added greatly to the interest of the people in this most 
popular of American rivers. 

The banks of the Hudson are also crowned with a 
number of interesting monuments : the tomb of General 




Fig. 7. 

The water-power in the Hudson at Glens Falls. (Copy, 
righted, 181)0, by S. R. Stoddard, Gleus Falls, N.Y.) 



12 TYPE STUDIES 

Grant, which overlooks the river from a commanding 
point near Columbia University at the upper end of Man- 
hattan Island ; the monument at Tarrytown to the captors 
of Major Andre; and the battle monument on the field of 
Saratoga. At Bennington and West Point are also 
historic memorials. 

^Washington Irving has thrown a romantic interest into 
many of the scenes along the Hudson. His home at 
Sunny side, near Tarrytown, his burial place near the Old 




Fig. 8. 

A view of the Columbia University Library and other buildings. The Hudson 
River and Palisades are in the background. (Copyrighted by G. P. Hall 
& Son, N.Y., 1891.) 

Dutch Church, the stories of Sleepy Hollow, Dolph Heiliger, 
and Rip Van Winkle, besides the Indian legends and war- 
like exploits for which the valleys of the Hudson and 
Mohawk are noted, lend the charm of poetry and romance 
to this whole region. Some of Fenimore Cooper's novels 
also find their theatre of action on tlie Hudson, as '' The Last 
of the Mohicans." It is a curious fact that the stories of Irv- 
ing and Cooper have lent as great an interest to the scenery 
of the Hudson as great battles and warlike campaigns. 
In comparing the Hudson Avith the Connecticut, Dela- 



THE HUDSON IIIVER 13 

ware, Susquehanna, and Potomac, we may get a still better 
notion of its size and importance. The Connecticut is 
450 miles long while the Hudson is but 300. But the 
Connecticut is not a drowned river valley, and is navigable 
only for smaller vessels, being aided by artificial dams and 
channels at various points. This river has no canal outlet 
to the commerce of the west, and as a traffic route it is 
of no special importance. 

The Delaware, like the Hudson, is open to the ocean 
tide as far as Trenton, 155 miles, and is navigable to this 
point. Philadelphia is located not far from its mouth, 
and is reached hj large steamers. But the Delaware 
Valley opens out no good traffic route to the west, and 
above Philadelphia has no great commercial value. 

The Susquehanna is 400 miles long and rises in the pla- 
teau of central New York. It is a shallow stream of little 
value for navigation and opens up no easy passage for a 
canal or railroad across the Alleghanies. 

The Potomac is 400 miles long, and has tide-water navi- 
gation for large sliips to Washington. Above this are 
falls and rapids, and the plan of building a canal along 
this route to Pittsburg was finally abandoned for a rail- 
way which rises to a height of 2400 feet in crossing the 
mountains. 

The James and other rivers farther south are' still less 
able to break through the mountain barrier separating the 
east from the west, although the great valley of Virginia 
does open a good route for a railroad into East Tennessee. 

After such a survey of the rivers flowing to the Atlan- 
tic seaboard, it is quite clear that the Hudson River and 
Mohawk alone offer an easy low-level route for a canal 
and for railroads, for the shipment of heavy products back 



14 TYPE STUDIES 

and forth between the east and west. The great bulk of 
the surplus agricultural products of the middle west and 
lake states find their way along the lakes and by way of 
the Hudson Valley to New York city and then to Europe. 
This makes New York city the leading seaport of the 
United States. About half of the imports and exports of 
the United States thus pass through New York harbor. 

The Pennsylvania Central, Baltimore and Ohio, and 
other roads crossing the Alleghanies to the west, also 
carry a large quantity of goods, but the Hudson River 
route is so much easier and cheaper that it naturally gains 
the bulk of the trade. 

The Hudson is one of the shortest of American rivers, 
but the fact that it is a drowned valley and connects easily 
with the Great Lakes has made it the most important 
waterway in America. 

In later studies the Hudson may be compared with the 
Ohio, Mississippi, and other American rivers. 

Later still in the course, in studying Europe, the 
Thames, the Rhine, and other navigable streams may be 
compared with the Hudson as to commercial importance, 
scenery, and historical interest. Such comparisons are 
valuable in bringing out more clearly the chief points 
both in advance and in review work. 



THE HOOSAC TUNNEL 

The Hoosac Tunnel, which pierces the Hoosac Moun- 
tain wall in western Massachusetts, is the chief avenue 
through which the commerce of New York state and 
the Avest finds its way to Boston and New England. 

The Hoosac and Taconic Mountain ranges, extending 
north through Avestern Connecticut and Massachusetts, 
were for many years a serious obstruction to commerce 
between New England and the western states. 

When the Erie Canal was completed from Buffalo to 
Albany, the people of Boston and New England felt tliat 
the rich commerce of the west would be lost to them and 
fall to New York city. 

To prevent this, the people of Massachusetts, in 1825, 
through its legislature, appointed commissioners to sur- 
vey a canal route from Boston to Albany, so that a water 
line should be kept open from Boston to Chicago and New 
Orleans. The commissioners reported in favor of a tun- 
nel for the canal tlirough the Hoosac ^Mountains at the 
point where the railroad tunnel now passes. 

But about this time and soon after, railroads began to be 
built, and in a few years canal schemes were given up in 
favor of railroads. 

Loammi I>akl\vin, the first engineer to survey the route 
for the canal, was enthusiastic in favor of this project. 
He said that '' the finger of Providence had pointed out 
this route from the east to the west." A friend standing 

15 



16 



TYPE STUDIES 



by said, " 'Twas a great pity tlie same finger wasn't tlirust 
through the mountain." 

The whole mountain range between Connecticut and 
the Hudson is many miles across, but the central range is 
only five miles through. On the east side the Deerfield 

River has cut its way for thirty 
miles from the very foot of the 
central ridge of the Hoosac 
range to the Connecticut 
River, and furnishes an easy 
route for a railroad to the base 
of this mountain wall. On the 
west the Hoosac River, with 
its deep valley, comes close 
against the central mountain 
wall and winds westward to 
the Hudson, furnishing like- 
wise an easy route for railroad 
traffic. But the backbone of 
the Hoosac ridge rises seven- 
teen hundred feet above these 
valleys and is five miles across. 
It was necessary to pierce this 
mountain witli a railroad tun- 
nel if Boston and New Eng- 
FiG. 9. land were to have their proper 

share of the vast commerce of the west. 

As early as 1842 a railroad from Boston to Albany had 
been completed, by way of Springfield and Pittsfield, 
which climbed over the mountains farther south with 
steep and difficult grades ; but this was too difficult a 
route for railroad traffic on a large scale, and in 1850 the 




rilE IIOOSAC TUNNEL 17 

Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company was organized to 
build a road from (jreenfield to Troy, tliere already being 
a road completed from Boston to Greenfield. Boston also 
has other important railroads connecting less directly with 
the west, as the Grand Trunk of Canada, coming down 
through Maine, the A'ermont Central, and the road to New 
York. But none of these bring Boston into direct touch 
with the commerce of the lake states and the great west. 

In 1852 the railroad company organized to construct 
this road began work on the tunnel. It was decided to 
enter the mountain from both sides at once, so as to hasten 
the completion and render the work easier. Careful sur- 
veys and measurements across the mountain were neces- 
sary so as to cause the two tunnels to meet exactly in the 
middle of the mountain. The floor of each tunnel was 
sloped upward at the rate of twenty feet to the mile, so as 
to allow the water, which was constantly flooding into the 
parts excavated, to flow out and into the streams. Great 
care was taken in the surveys and measurements across 
the mountains, so as to bring the tunnels face to face 
when the work should be completed after years of labor. 
The digging was first begun on the east side, and a great 
drilling machine weighing seventy-five tons was set up. 
It drilled a circular groove into the face of the cliff about 
twenty feet in diameter and a foot wade. Then the ex- 
posed rock was to be split and blasted out. This machine 
soon broke down, and was sold for old iron. For several 
years after this hand drills Avere used, and into the holes 
drilled into the face of the rock charges of powder were 
placed and exploded so as to crush and shatter the rock. 
But the progress made with the hand drills was so slow 
tliat it was necessary to find a more rapid mode of exca- 



18 TYPE STUDIES 

vating the rock. A machine drill was invented to be 
driven by compressed air, as steam-engines could not be 
used in the tunnel on account of the smoke and gases 
produced. The compressed air was conducted from the 
power house outside the tunnel by means of large iron 
pipes to the drilling machine placed at the upper end of 
the tunnel. By means of these machine drills the men 
were able to push the tunnel forward at the rate of 150 
feet a month on the east side and 90 feet on the west 
side, Avhere the rock was harder. 

The portal of the tunr^el in the east end is in the solid 
rock and is twenty feet high and twenty-four feet wide. 
For the removal of the broken rock to the mouth of the 
tunnel, cars drawn by mules and running upon a track 
through the tunnel were used at first. But as the dis- 
tance increased this was found too slow a process, and a 
small steam-engine placed near the entrance was used to 
haul the cars swiftly back and forth. 

Gunpowder was used in the softer rock for blasting 
purposes, but in the harder rock nitroglycerine cartridges 
from one and one-half feet to two feet long and one and 
one-half inches in diameter were used. Several of these 
were inserted at one time into the holes drilled into the 
face of the rock, then connected with a fuse and electric 
wires leading to an electrical machine some distance down 
the tunnel. When the electric current was turned on, a 
deafening noise was heard, and the rock mass was shattered 
into fragments. When the work was in full progress, the 
noises in the tunnel were terrific, the rattling of the cars, 
the pounding of the drills, and the explosions of dynamite 
in the narrow passage creating a fearfal tumult. 

The men worked in three divisions: one, at the upper end 



THE HOOSAC TUNNEL 19 

of the tunnel, were blasting out a passage twenty-four feet 
wide and eight feet high ; a second group half a mile far- 
ther toward the entrance were taking off six feet more from 
the top of the tunnel. A third group still nearer the en- 
trance completed the arch to a height of twenty feet. The 
men worked also in relays of three divisions, eight hours 
each, and kept the work up day and night. 

On the west side of the mountain, as the tunnel was 
pushed into the hillside, the engineers soon came upon a 
soft, crumbling rock almost as loose as quicksand. The 
walls caved in and filled up the tunnel as fast as it was 
dug, and it was extremely difficult to make any headway. 
A complete casing of timber was built close up to the end 
of the tunnel and extended forward as fast as the crum- 
bling material was removed. Under this framework a heavy 
brick arch was built to support the weight above. As the 
loose materials at the bottom would not support the walls 
of the arch, an inverted brick arch was built at the bottom 
of the tunnel, and thus a complete brick tube was formed. 
In this manner the tunnel, seven layers of brick in thickness, 
was extended 700 feet through the soft and crumbling 
rock. 

To avoid this crumbling rock the miners climbed the 
side of the sloping mountain and about half a mile from 
the west entrance sunk a shaft 318 feet deep to the level of 
the tunnel, and lifting the material through the shaft began 
to extend the tunnel eastward and westward. 

The Hoosac mountain ridge, as shown by the diagram, 
consists of two ridges Avith a valley between them. In 
order to excavate the tunnel more rapidly a shaft was sunk 
in this upper valley to the level of the tunnel and the work 
of excavation was extended in both directions, the rock 



20 



TYPE STUDIES 



and dirt being lifted to the top of this shaft in cars and 
dumped. This central shaft was 1030 feet deep and re- 
quired four years of labor before the level of the tunnel 
was reached. It was elliptical in form, twenty-seven feet 
the long w^ay, parallel with the tunnel and fifteen feet wide. 
Of course the most accurate mathematical calculations were 
necessary to determiDC the exact level, and to keep the 
direction of the tunnel at the foot of a narrow shaft 1030 
feet deep. 

During the time of tunnelling and sinking the shafts 
many serious accidents occurred and many lives were lost. 




Profile of the Hoosac Mountain. 
Fig. 10. 

The Avorst of all these accidents occurred at this shaft when 
it had been sunk about six hundred feet. A gasolene 
engine had been used for lighting the shaft, but was de- 
clared unsafe. In a second effort to use it, the buildings 
at the top of the shaft caught fire, and the engineer was 
driven from liis post. Thirteen men wdio had just gone 
to the bottom of the shaft perished miserably, being prob- 
ably suffocated by the smoke of the falling timbers. 

When the enterprise of building this tunnel was just 
begun, it was in the hands of a railroad company. But the 
legislature of Massachusetts, after repeated requests, in 
1854 subscribed $2,000,000 to the enterprise on certain 



THE HOOSAC TUNNEL 21 

conditions. In 1862 by the foreclosure of a mortgage 
held by the state the whole management fell to the com- 
missioners appointed by the state. As the work pro- 
gressed, the amount needed for its completion increased 
rather than diminished. When the tunnel was finally 
completed, in 1875, after twenty-two years of labor, it had 
cost 114,000,000. The work was great and difficult beyond 
expectation. When it was begun no such vast undertak- 
ing had been tried in this country or in Europe. At the 
present time scores of trains pass through it daily, car- 
rying the grain and meats of the west to Boston and 
Europe and taking back the manufactures of New Eng- 
land and Europe. 

The railroads that cross the Alleghany and Rocky 
mountains of North America pass through many tunnels, 
but none so long and difficult of construction as the 
Hoosac. At Port Huron, Michigan, a tunnel passes under 
the Detroit River. In Chicago tAVO tunnels pass under 
the Chicago River. 

The railroads crossing the Alleghanies from east to 
west have many tunnels piercing the mountains. Usually 
the roads follow the valleys of streams, but in crossing 
the ridges wliich form the watersheds between rivers, it 
is often found necessary to cut a tunnel. The Baltimore 
and Ohio road with its branches has forty-four tunnels, 
the combined lenofth of them bein^r more than seven miles. 
The Chesapeake and Ohio road has about seven miles of 
tunnels in crossing the Alleghanies. 

The Rocky Mountains are tunnelled in many places 
by railroads. One of tlie great tunnels is in the Cascade 
Range near the Columbia River in Wasliington. 

In cities like New York, Chicai'-o, St. Louis, and I>os- 



22 TYPE STUDIES 

ton, we find tunnels for railroads. In St. Louis a great 
tunnel reaches from the end of the great bridge under 
the business part of the city and emerges again shortly 
before reaching the Grand Central station. 

In Chicago the water supply is carried through tun- 
nels built under the lake from two to four miles to the 
large cribs which serve as intakes. 

It is evident, therefore, that tunnels serve two distinct 
purposes, — either to pass under rivers or lakes or to 
penetrate mountains. 

One of the great tunnels of the world is the one in 
the Alps, connecting Italy and France and called the 
Mt. Cenis tunnel. It is 4237 feet above the sea, nearly 
eight miles long, and cost $15,000,000. It is not built 
in a straight line, but curves through tbe mountain, and 
is wide enough for two double railroad tracks. It 
was built about the same time as the Hoosac tunnel. 
Though it was begun later, it was finished first, but 
two great states (France and Italy) were interested in 
its construction. The St. Gothard tunnel between Italy 
and Switzerland was built later. It is the longest tunnel 
in the world, being rather more than nine and one-fourth 
miles long. 

There lias been much talk of building a tunnel under 
the English channel connecting France and Germany. 
The shortest distance across the channel is thirty miles. 



COD-FISHERIES 

The cod-fisheries along the shores of New England 
and farther north are a great source of food and wealth 
to the people. The principal centre for cod-fishing and 
other closely related fisheries is Gloucester on the 
northeast coast of Massachusetts. 

The people of New England from the earliest explora- 
tion and settlement found the coast swarming with 
excellent fish, such as cod, mackerel, lialibut, shad, and 
salmon. John Smith, in his first exploration of the 
New England coast, described these rich fishing grounds, 
and showed that they would prove a great source of 
profit to the settlers. It was fortunate that the early 
colonists found such an abundant supply of food in 
the near-by seas, as the land was not very fruitful and 
to this day has remained a poor farming country. 

There are several reasons for sucli a stocking of 
New England waters with choice food fishes. There 
are, fir^t of all, excellent feeding grounds for fishes in 
the shallow bays and inlets throughout these coasts, 
from Massachusetts to Newfoundland. These and the 
river mouths are good spawning grounds for salmon, 
shad, and other varieties. The rocky coast also allows 
the collection of seaweed, and a matting on the shallow 
bottom, among which the fishes find abundance of small 
animal food. 

23 



24 



TYPE STUDIES 



Along the shores and out from them are many shal- 
low waters, called banks, where cod, halibut, and other 

fish are found in vast 
numbers. This whole 
sea-coast has been sunk 
to a lower level than 
formerly, and the sink- 
ing has caused many 
bays and inlets and a 
very irregular coast- 
line. The flat shoals 
or banks extending out 
along tlie coast under 
water are due to this 
sinking, and furnish 
the fishes with the 
shallow feeding grounds 
where they love to 
gather. 

Two kinds of fishing 
are commonly carried 
on, the shore-line fish- 
ing and the deep-sea 
fishing on the great 
banks, extending one or two hundred miles into the sea. 

In recent years, the shore-line fishing has diminished in 
importance, while fishing on the banks, especially along 
the coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, has employed 
liundreds of fisliing scliooners. For three miles out from 
the shore tlie fisliing belongs wholly to the country whose 
shore it is, but beyond the three-mile limit the fishing is 
free to all nations alike. 




Fig. n. 
Sections where ocean fish are found. 



COD-FISHERIES 



25 




The shore-line fishing is carried on chiefly by single 
fishermen, each in his boat. At the present time we find 
the lone fisherman all along the coast of northern New 
England, but especially in the more remote parts of the 

coast. He has his 

dory, in which he 
goes out upon the 
sea every day the 
weather permits. 
His home, often no 
more than a shanty 
surrounded by a 
small and not well- 
kept garden, is on 
the shore of a cove 
which furnishes par- 
tial or complete pro- 
tection to his boat. 
Early each morning, at an hour when most of us are 
abed, he goes out in his boat to attend to his lobster 
pots, nets, and trawls, sailing when possible, rowing when 
necessary. His life is a simple one and his needs are few, 
but he is his own master, free and independent. 

Many of the fish brought in by the single fisherman in 
his dory are sold fresh in the markets along the coast. 

Most of the fishing on the banks is carried on by 
schooners which are fitted out at Gloucester, or it may be 
at Boston or Provincetown. The fishing schooners of 
recent times are fast-sailing boats, well equipped and sea- 
worthy, and are sent out mostly by large companies, whicli 
fit them out for the voyage. The best of tliem reseml)le 
pleasure yachts. Their lockers are well supplied with 



Fig. 12. 

A fisherman, dory, and lobster pots. 



26 TYPE STUDIES 

fresh vegetables, fresh iced meats, and the best canned 
goods, and the hard-working fishermen are well fed. The 
sides of the vessel are supplied with water-tanks, connected 
by good pipes and faucets with the basins for handling 
the fish. All the tools and machinery needed for an 
easy and quick cleaning and packing of the fish are sup- 




FiG. 13. 
A fishing schooner. 

plied. The cabins are furnished with pictures and con- 
veniences like a modern house. The captain or skipper 
is a well-seasoned shipmaster, and his crew, if possible, 
are experienced fishermen. The crew share the profits of 
the catch, after expenses are taken out, and are thoroughly 
interested in tlie success of their work. 

" Long since, the demand for fishermen in Gloucester 
has far exceeded the supply of local fishermen ; and con- 



COD-FISriEEIES 27 

sequently men have flocked there from many points, as 
the coast of Maine, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, 
Newfonndhmd, and the Portuguese Azores. Nevertheless, 
with all this diversity of race, they are banded together as 
partners, as their predecessors were when fishing two in a 
boat. The men are not hired by the owners of the vessels 
at so much a day, but work together as partners in a 
common enterprise. A firm may own dozens of vessels, 
and these are fitted out with the necessary apparatus of 



Fig. U. 

A view in Gloucester harbor, showing the fishing schooners, the wharves where 
the fish are landed, and the buildings in which they are stored. 

food, each man being charged with his share of the ex- 
pense of outfitting. When the trip is sold, these expenses 
are deducted, the firm bearing its sliare, and then the 
profits are divided, the firm naturally getting the larger 
portion, since it has supplied the vessel and the largest 
part of the outfit, and the captain, or ' skipper,' receiving 
more than the men. The result is that each man feels a 
keen interest in the success of every trip ; and, barring 
the element of luck, his share bears a direct proportion to 
tlie energy with which he and his fellows work. All con- 
sidered, it is one of tlie most satisfactory and successful 



28 TYPE STUDIES 

instances of cooperation between labor and capital that 
the industries of our country offer. There are no strikes." 

The fishing schooners start for the Banks in May or 
June and spend three or four months laying in a cargo of 
cod. Before starting out, the hold of the ship is well filled 
with salt, to be used in salting down the fisli as fast as 
they are taken. 

When once upon the Banks, the captain of the fishing 
schooner shifts about from place to place in search of the 
best fishing grounds. By long and toilsome experience 
he has become expert in judging the weather and the 
habits of the fish in wandering along the sea bottoms. He 
knows the ups and downs of the sea bottom all over the 
Grand Banks as well as the farmer knows his fields. 

As soon as he has found a good fishing ground, the 
schooner is anchored, and the dories or small boats which 
are swinging in their nests upon the deck are let down. 
The hardy, skilled fishermen leap into them, already 
well supplied with fishing tackle and bait, and begin to set 
their hooks and drop them in for the catch. Each fisher- 
man seeks to outdo the others in the number of fish he 
can bring back in his dory as the fruit of his day's catch. 
As the boats are swung to the deck and the fish unloaded 
into the bin, a tally is kept of each man's fish, and much 
sport is made of those who come in with a poor catch. 

After all the fish have been pitched into the pen on 
deck, and the hungry fishermen have had their supper, 
the work of '<• dressing down," or cleaning and packing 
them in tlie liold, takes place. Kipling's "Captains Coura- 
geous" gives tlie following description of the dressing 
down : " The shadow of the masts and rigging, with the 
never-furled riding-sail, rolled to and fro on the heaving 



COD-FISITERIES 29 

deck in the moonlight ; and the pile of fish by the stern 
shone like a dump of fluid silver. In the hold tliere were 
tramplings and rumblings where Disko Troop and Tom 
Piatt moved among the salt-bins. Dan passed Harvey a 
pitchfork, and led him to the inboard end of tlie rough 
table, where Uncle Salters was drumming impatiently 
with a knife-haft. A tub of salt water lay at his feet. 

" ' You can pitch to dad an' Tom Flatt down the hatch, 
and take keer Uncle Salters don't cut your eye out,' 
said Dan, swinging himself into the hold. 'I'll pass salt 
below.' 

" Penn and Manuel stood knee-deep among cod in the 
pen, flourishing long knives. Long Jack, a basket at his 
feet and mittens on his hands, faced Uncle Salters at the 
table, and Harvey stared at the pitchfork and the tub. 

'' ' Hi! ' shouted Manuel, stooping to the fish, and bringing 
one up, with a finger under its gill and a finger in its eye. 
He laid it on the edge of the pen ; the knife-blade glim- 
mered with a sound of tearing, and the fish, slit from 
throat to vent, with a nick on either side of the neck, 
dropped at Long Jack's feet. 

'' ' Hi I ' said long Jack, with a scoop of his mittened hand. 
The cod's liver dropped in the basket. Another wrench 
and scoop sent the head and offal flying, and the 
empty fish slid across to Uncle Salters, who snorted fiercely. 
There was another sound of tearing, and the fish, headless, 
gutted, and open, splashed in the tub, sending the salt 
water into Harvey's astonished mouth. After the first 
yell, the men were silent. The cod moved along as 
though they were alive, and long ere Harvey had ceased 
wondering at the miraculous dexterity of it all, his tub 
was full. 



30 TYPE STUDIES 

" ' Pitch ! ' grunted Uncle Salters, without turning his 
head, and Harvey pitched the fisli by twos and threes down 
the liatch. 

" ' Hi ! Pitcli 'em bunchy! ' shouted Dan. ' Don't scat- 
ter ! Uncle Salters is the best splitter in the fleet ! Watch 
him mind his book ! ' 

" Indeed, it looked a little as though the round uncle were 
cutting magazine pages against time. Manuel's body, 
cramped over from the hips, stayed like a statue ; but his 
long arms grabbed the fish without ceasing. 

'' Down below, the rasping sound of rough salt rubbed on 
rough flesh sounded like the whirring of a grindstone — a 
steady undertone to the ' click-nick ' of the knives in the 
pen ; the wrench and schloop of torn heads, dropped liver, 
and flying offal ; the ' caraah' of Uncle Salters's knife 
scooping away backbones ; and the flap of wet, opened 
bodies falling into the tub. 

" At the end of an hour Harvey would have given the 
world to rest ; for fresh, wet cod weigh more than you 
would think, and his back ached with the steady pitching. 
But he felt for the first time in his life that he was one of 
a working gang of men, took pride in the thought, and 
held on sullenly. 

" ' Knife oh ! ' shouted Uncle Salters, at last. Penn 
doubled up, gasping among the fish ; Manuel bowed back 
and forth to supple himself ; and Long Jack leaned over 
the bulwarks. 

''After a few moments' rest while the knives were being 
changed : — 

" ' Hi !' With a yell from Emanuel the work began again, 
and never stopped till the pen was empty. The instant the 
last fish was down, Disko Troop rolled aft to the cabin 



COD-FISHERIES 31 

with his brother ; Manuel and Long Jack went forward ; 
Tom rUitt only waited long enough to slide home the 
hatch ere he too disappeared. In half a minute Harvey 
heard deep snores in the cabin, and he was staring blankly 
at Dan and Penn." 

Sometimes, instead of the men going out in their dories 
to fish separately with hook and line, a long line is hiid 



■,^ -^X mM • 


1 


"* ■ ■ V 


^....^ 



Fig. 15. 

Cod fishing by means of a trawl. 

out across the water, to which short lines with baited hooks 
are fastened every few feet. This is called long-line fisli- 
ing or trawling. Such a trawling line with shorter lines 
attached is packed carefully in a tub and lowered into a 
dory which anchors one end of it to a buoy near the 
schooner. As the dory is moved out by the oarsman away 
from the schooner, another fisherman baits the hooks and 
drops them into the water. In this way two or three tubs 
full of line are stretched out in one course, perhaps a mile 
in length. The farther end is also anchored, and corks at 
intervals support the main line. 



32 TYPE STUDIES 

Gathering the fish from the trawling line is difficult and 
dangerous in a rough sea. Kipling gives the following : 
'' Underrunning a trawl means pulling it in one side of the 
dory, picking off the fish, rebaiting the hooks, and passing 
them back to the sea again — something j.ike pinning and 
unpinning linen on a wash line. It is a lengthy business 
and rather dangerous, for the long, sagging line may twitch 
a boat under in a flash. 

" The fish bit at the newly baited hooks from which 
their brethren had just been taken, and Tom Piatt and 
Long Jack moved methodically up and down the length 
of the trawl, the boat's nose surging under the wet 
line of hooks, stripping the sea-cucumbers that they 
called pumpkins, slatting off the fresh-caught cod against 
the gunwale, rebaiting and loading Manuel's dory till 
dusk." 

Sometimes when the cod are thick and hungry, the men 
fish from the deck of the schooner. 

Dangers ever beset the men whether on the deck of the 
schooner or in their dories. The heavy fogs which wrap 
the Banks in gloom are a sure cause of trouble. The fog 
often settles down suddenly and the dories are quickly 
shut out from the sight of the schooner and must go 
by sound of bell or horn or the instinct of the fisher- 
man. Sometmies the men in the dories are lost and drift 
about for days, to starve or freeze or go down in stormy 
weather. 

The path of the ocean steamers from New York to Eng- 
land is directly across these foggy Banks and such a swift 
moving steamship, suddenly looming up out of the dense 
fog, sometimes crushes into a schooner, splits it in two, and 
sends its crew to the bottom. Or, it may be, an iceberg, 



i 



COD-FTHIIEUTES 33 

floating down from tli(3 north, invades the foggy Banks and 
threatens destruction to the schooners. 

At times the lishing vessels collect in large numbers at 
some favorable lishing ground and anchor near togetlier. 
In case a storm comes up and an anchor gives way, the 
schooner is driven recklessly among the other boats and 
a collision may sink both vessels and their crews. 

Professor Tarr says in '^ The Fishing Industry of 
New England " : '' In order to set the trawl, and to re- 
move the fish from it at intervals, men must leave the 
A^essel in their dories. If a snow squall arises or a fog 
sets in while the men are out, they are apt to be sepa- 
rated from their scliooner and, drifting about, l)ecome 
hopelessly lost in the open ocean. Every year lives 
are lost in tliis manner ; and very often men are adrift 
for days before being picked up, perhaps crazed with 
thirst or almost starved and frequently badly frozen. 

'-'• In some years over two hundred men are lost from 
the port of Gloucester, and every year there are scores 
of lives sacrificed. The result is that the percentage of 
widows and orphans in (Gloucester is unduly large ; yet 
the freedom, independence, and excitement of the life, 
added to the possibility of profit, induce men to engage 
in the industry. But the wives and mothers ashore, 
lacking the excitement, wait, watch, and pray, spending 
sleepless nights listening to the roar of the storm waves 
with fear and trembling, for they know that this very 
storm may rob them of their dear ones. Then, when it 
is time for the return, they watch and listen ; and, ahis, 
in far too many cases anxiety gives place to fear, then 
to dread uncertainty, and finally to hopeless certainty 
that the vessel will never again enter port, and that no 

D 



34 TYPE STUDIES 

one will ever know more than that it lies at the bot- 
tom of the sea." 

Gloucester has grown in the last few years to be the 
most important centre of the fishing industry in New 
England. Formerly it was less important than Province- 
town on Cape Cod or Annisquam near by. But as 
larger boats and schooners came into use on the Banks, 
Gloucester was found to have a deeper harbor and en- 
trance, so that the business shifted to this place. Glouces- 
ter has also the advantage of extending far out into 
the sea on the peninsula of which Cape Ann is the 
point, and is thus nearer to the fishing grounds. Again, 
Boston, the great centre of trade, is not far away, and 
both fresh and salt fish are sent in large quantities to 
Boston, and from there distributed over the country. 
Boston itself is also a very important harbor for fish- 
ing schooners, and especially for the trade in fresh fish. 
Fishing schooners coming into Gloucester often have 
their halibut and other fresh fish packed in the hold 
on ice and thus kept fresh for weeks or months till it 
is shipped in refrigerator cars to New York and other 
cities. 

Most of the cod, salted down in the holds, is brought 
into Gloucester in schooner loads. ''Arriving in port 
the cargo is transferred from the ship to the wharf, 
where the fish are placed in large hogsheads, called 
butts. There they are left soaking in the brine until 
the time comes for drying them. For that purpose the 
fish are spread upon the flakes, which consist of frames 
two or three feet above the level of the wharf, upon 
which are many crosspieces arranged much as laths 
are in a house. This permits the air to reach the un- 



COD-FISHERIES 35 

der as well as the upper side of the fish. After being 
thoroughly dried, many of the fish are sent away whole 
to be sold as salted cod, and these fish find their Avay 
all over the countr}^ Of late, however, an important 
industry of preparing the cod more carefully for mar- 
ket has sprung up. For this purpose tlie skin and 
bones are carefully removed, and the fish is torn into 
shreds and packed in boxes as boneless or shredded 
cod." 

As in the case of other large industries centred in 
one place, the waste products, such as skins, bones, and 
heads, have found important uses. For the manufac- 
ture of glue and fertilizer large factories have been 
built at Gloucester, where these disagreeable products 
are converted into valuable articles of commerce and 
the waters of the harbor saved from pollution. 

It is natural also that other industries for the manu- 
facture of anchors, cordage, fish nets, and ship supplies 
should grow up in Gloucester. In this way Gloucester 
lias grown to be the great centre for the fisheries and 
other closely related trades. The harbor of Gloucester, 
with its schooners, docks, and drying wharves, is one of 
the places of lively interest to the visitor. Four hun- 
dred fishing schooners go out from this port and the 
fish brought in are scattered to almost every grocery 
store in the United States. Most of the fish brought 
in is consumed in our own country. As Lowell is fa- 
mous for cotton manufacture and Pittsburg for iron, 
Gloucester, a city of twenty-eight thousand people, 
stands foremost in the fish industry. 

When we consider the risks, dangers, and hardships 
connected both with the shore-line and outlying banks 



36 TYPE STUDIES 

fishing, it is plain that a hardy and independent race 
of men is needed for such a business. From the earli- 
est times the fishermen of the New England coast have 
been a bold and fearless set of men, ready to face dan- 
ger, hardship, and the severest strain of toil. Through 
long and hard experience they became skilful seamen 
and shipmasters. In time of war the United States has 
usually found among these fishermen its best men for 
the fleet. During the Revolutionary War, and still 
more during the War of 1812, these men proved them- 
selves heroes in many waters. Later, during the Civil 
War, they were found equally serviceable to their 
country. 

The results of the Spanish-American War, in which 
they also served, were curiously advantageous to the fish- 
ing business. Porto Rico and Cuba, as a result of this 
war, have been opened to the trade in fish from the New 
England coast. This is important because Catholic coun- 
tries use a large quantity of fish, and the products of the 
cold north are thus made to serve the needs of the tropical 
south. 

The sea captains or skippers and many of the sailors 
who go out from Gloucester are men with families who 
own their own comfortable homes. Others are single men, 
who are apt to spend their money recklessly when they 
come into port. 

On account of the greater concentration of the fish- 
ing business in two or three cities, many of the old 
wharves and fishing towns have been largely abandoned 
and are falling into decay. Instead of fishing villages, 
tiiey have become largely summer resorts for seaside 
visitors. 



COB- FISHERIES 37 

Farther south along the coast of the United States, 
especially in Long Island Sound and Chesapeake Bay, the 
oyster fisheries are extremely important and furnish em- 
ployment to thousands of men. Even as far south as the 
coast of Florida, oyster fisheries are important and supply 
a large amount of food product. 

On the northwestern coast of the United States, British 
Columbia, and Alaska very extensive salmon fisheries have 
developed, in particular along the Columbia River. The 
canned salmon, and even fresh salmon, sent in refrigerator 
cars to the east, have competed in the market with the 
products of the New England fisheries ; but the distance 
is so great that New England has held the chief place in 
the fish market. 

Along the Great Lakes are also extensive fisheries in 
lake-trout or whitefish and other varieties, which are 
among the best oi food fishes. The smaller lakes and 
rivers of the United States are also locally important as 
sources of the food fishes. 

The government of the United States has an important 
department called the Fisheries Commission, whose busi- 
ness it is to study the various fresh and salt water fishing 
grounds of the United States. It is their work also in 
every way possible to protect and extend the fishing indus- 
tries, to establish fish-hatcheries, and to distribute young 
fish in waters where they may increase in numbers. Thus 
attempts are being made to restore the coast-line fisheries 
along the coast of New England by planting young fish in 
the shore waters. 

As already indicated, the great fishing grounds along 
tlie Banks of Newfoundland are resorted to by fishing 
schooners of all nations. French vessels have always 



38 TYPE STUDIES 

been numerous along these shores, and the Canadian fish- 
eries are very important. 

In later studies, the great fishing grounds of the North 
Sea and all around the coasts of England and Ireland may 
be studied and brought into connection and comparison 
with the fisheries of our own country. 



J 



NIAGARA FALLS AND THE COMMERCE OF 
THE GREAT LAKES 



Niagara Falls lies midway between Lake Ontario 
and Lake Erie. Lake Erie is nearly 300 feet higher 
above the sea-level than Lake Ontario. About six miles 
south of Lake Ontario the level plateau in whose basin 




Fig. 17. 

Bird's-eye view of the Niagara River. Contrast the broad, shallow upper 
valley with the narrow, deep gorge below the falls. 

Lake Erie lies drops down 300 feet to the plain which 
borders Lake Ontario. The Niagara River, in making its 
way from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, must leap over this 
l)luff or escarpment. At the present time tlie falls are 
about six miles back from tlie edge of the escarpment. A 

39 



40 



TYPE STUDIES 



stratum of limestone rocks 140 feet thick extends from 
the edge of this escarpment southward and, dipping 
gradually, passes under Lake Erie. The Niagara River, 
as it flows northward, drops over this ledge of limestone 
rocks at the present site of the falls. It is 160 feet 

from the edge of the 
cataract to the level 
of the river below. 
The remainder of the 
300 feet of descent 
is made by the rapids 
above and below the 
falls and by the 
descent of the river. 
The falls on the 
American side are 
small and, in fact, 
constitute a part of 
the east bank of the 
river. The great 
Horseshoe Falls, 
which lie to the west 
of Goat Island, con- 
stitute the main part 
of the falls. Here 
the enormous body 
of water tumbles into 
a great chasm from tliree sides, and it is here that the 
main action of the water in grinding out the rocks takes 
place. Above the falls is a great series of limestone ledges, 
over whicli the broad river plunges, forming a Avilderness 
of waters, as seen from the 'J'hree Sisters Islands, very 




Fig. 18. 
A view of Niagara Falls. 



1 



NIAGARA FALLS 41 

grand and impressive. In fact, the view up the river from 
the Three Sisters is one of the grandest scenes in nature. 
The Horseshoe Falls can be best appreciated from the Maid 
of the Mist as it sails up under the waters from below. 

Below the falls is the deep, narrow gorge, with its pre- 
cipitous walls nearly 300 feet high, through the narrow 
bottom of which gushes the swift river. How w^as this 
gorge formed ? It extends about six miles to the edge 
of the escarpment. As the water tumbles over the edge 
of the falls, it decends into the river 200 feet deep. The 
underlying rocks beneath the limestone ledge, already de- 
scribed, are soft shales and sandstone. The rushing waters 
at the foot of the falls gradually wash out great caves in this 
softer rock, and the superincumbent mass of projecting 
limestone breaks off in great chunks and tumbles into the 
bottom of the river. In the centre of the Horseshoe Falls, 
where the water from three sides plunges into the deep 
caldron, the action of the water is so powerful as to grind 
up these loose rocks at the bottom and sweep the sand down 
the river. On the edges of the gorge, where the action 
of the water is less powerful, the broken rocks are not 
ground up and form a sloping side or talus which is found 
on both sides of the gorge throughout its course. In this 
way it has been found by close measurements that the falls 
are yearly receding toward the south, in the middle of the 
Horseshoe Falls at the rate of from four to six feet a year. 
During the present century the measurements have been 
quite accurate, so tliat the rate of recession is somewhat 
definitely k;iown. With this as a basis efforts have been 
made to reckon the number of years necessary for the for- 
mation of the gorge, but the estimates have varied from 
six thousand to thirty thousand years. 



42 



TYPE STUDIES 



The gorge between the falls and the escarpment is a 
most interesting scenic object. An electric railway descends 
along the eastern edge of the gorge and, passing close by 
the whirlpool rapids, proceeds along the foot of the cliffs 
till it reaches Lewiston at the outlet of the gorge. 
Here the Niagara River widens into a splendid stream, deep 
and broad, as it courses toward Lake Ontario. Another 
electric railway climbs the escarpment on the Canadian 




Fig. 19. 

Elevators on the water front of Buffalo. (Copyrighted by G. P. Hall 
& Son, N.Y., 1899.) 



side, and on its return to the falls gives excellent views of 
the river and gorge from above. 

If heavily laden grain ships start from Chicago or 
Duluth, how far can they proceed down the lakes before 
stopping to unload? If it were not for Niagara Falls, 
they would not stop at Buffalo, but pass on to Lake 
Ontario, and perhaps down tlie St, Lawrence on their 
way to Europe or New York. As a matter of fact, all the 
great lake vessels moving eastward are compelled to un- 



NIAGARA FALLS 



43 



load their cargoes at Buffalo. If it were not for Niagara 
Falls, would there be any need of an Ei'ie Canal ? or a 
Welland Canal? Would there be any great city at 
Buffalo ? If great vessels could pass freely from Lake 
Erie to Lake Ontario, what part of the Erie Canal would 
still be serviceable ? There is at present a branch of the 
canal from Oswego to tlie main canal and Albany. In 
this case what sort of a city would Oswego be ? Perhaps 
the main body 
of c o m m c r c e 
would go down 
the St. Law- 
rence, but there 
are difficulties 
in the naviga- 
tion of the St. 
Lawrence, such 
as the rapids, 
which have made 
canals neces- 
sary, the short 
season of navi- 
at tlie 




Fig. 20. 

Some of the raw materials which are readily brought 
to Buffalo by boat. 



gation 

moutli of tlie St. Lawrence, so far to the north, and the 
fact tliat all this commerce must pass through a foreign 
country. The probability is, therefore, tliat the canal, in 
any case, would extend from Oswego to Albany. So far 
as commerce is concerned, Niagara Falls is an enormous 
obstruction, making necessary the expenditure of many 
millions of dollars on canals and railways. Moreover, the 
traffic route from Chicago, Duluth, and the lake cities is 
by many times the most important traffic route in America, 



/^ 



44 



TYPE STUDIES 



and Niagara lies at its centre, obstructing all free commer- 
cial intercourse. The vast importance of this trade route 
may be seen in the quantity of great staple products like 
corn, wheat, live stock, and packed meats which are 
shipped from Chicago and other lake cities to Buffalo, 
New York, and Europe. The greatest railroad trunk lines 




Fig. 21. 

A section to show how the Niagara power is used. The wheels are placed at 
the base of the tube on the left-hand side, and the waste water then runs 
down throui^h the tunnel and back into the river. 



follow this route, such as the Michigan Central, the Nickel 
Plate, and others. 

On the other hand, do the great falls perform any ser- 
vice to mankind to compensate for this inconvenience and 
difficulty ? Tliere is immense Avater-power at the falls, 
and a group of mills on the east side for many 3^ears has 
used a very small fraction of the water for moving mill- 



NIAGARA FALLS 45 

wheels. But within the hist few years engineers have 
constructed great water-wheels near the falls for producing 
water-power and for converting this power into electrical 
force. This result has been accomplished as follows : On 
the American side above the falls and a few hundred feet 
from the shore a huge shaft or well was sunk to a depth 
of about 160 feet. Its bottom was a little above the level 
of the river at the foot of the falls and from the bottom of 
the shaft a tunnel was run connecting it with the gorge at 
the level of the river below. Then a canal was opened 
from the river above the falls to the top of the shaft, and 
the water could be run from the river and dropped into 
the top of the deep shaft or well. Near the bottom of the 
shaft was built a series of great turbine wheels upon which 
the water from above could be dropped through large iron 
pipes. Shafting connected these turbine wheels with the 
power-house above at the top of the well where the water- 
power is converted into electrical force. It is being utilized 
by mills and factories and street-car lines within a radius 
of many miles from the falls. So great is the amount of 
power which can be generated at the falls and put to use 
in factories and shops, that it is expected that the country 
about Niagara Falls will become, in time, the greatest 
manufacturing centre in tlie world. Another reason for 
these liopes is the fact that raw products of many kinds 
can be shipped to this point at little expense. 

In the earl}^ history of explorations we find that Hen- 
nepin and La Salle, in trying to navigate the upper lakes, 
met their greatest difficulties at Niagara Falls. It Avas 
necessary to carry a heavy forge and tools over the bluff 
and along the river to a point six or seven miles above the 
falls, where, in the rigors of a severe w^inter, forest trees 



46 TYPE STUDIES 

were cut down and a vessel Avas built for the navigation 
of the upper lakes. It was called the Grriffin and was 
used by La Salle and his party in their first trip to Macki- 
naw and Green Bay. The Columbus caravels, which 
were objects of such interest at the Columbian Exposition, 
were taken up the St. Lawrence River and through the 
Welland Canal, reaching Chicago by the way of the lakes. 
Some of the smaller whaleback steamers have made the 
trip from Duluth through the locks at St. Mary's Canal, 
the lakes, and the Welland Canal, down the St. Lawrence 
to Liverpool. 

Geologists have been anxious to determine the number 
of centuries since the Niagara River began to cut its gorge. 
In this waj^ they would be able to determine the length of 
time since the glacial period or the ice age in North Amer- 
ica. The great glacial sheet gliding down from tlie north 
at one time filled Lake Ontario so that the Niagara River 
could find no outlet into Lake Ontario. At that time the 
upper lakes must have found an outlet in some other direc- 
tion. The old channel by which Lake Michigan sent its 
waters into the Illinois and Mississippi has been found. 
As the ice receded toward the north, and the waters from 
Lake Erie were first sent via Niagara over the escarpment 
toward Lake Ontario, the outlet of the St. Lawrence was 
still obstructed by ice. In those days the outlet to Lake 
Ontario was by way of the Mohawk and Hudson, and this 
old channel has also been located. If this were still true, 
it would remove some of the difiiculties of our navigation. 

If we compare the falls of Niagara, its gorge and rapids, 
Avith the falls of St. Anthony at Minneapolis, we shall find 
that a similar gorge extends from Minneapolis down 
the Mississippi about five miles to its junction with the 



NIAGARA FALLS 47 

Minnesota. But this gorge is only one-third as deep, 
though about the same width, as the Niagara gorge. An 
examination of the rock strata at St. Anthony's Falls will 
reveal also a similar series of rocks, hard limestone above 
and softer rock beneath, and a similar recession of the 
falls. At Minneapolis, however, great flour mills worth 
millions of dollars have been established at the western 
edge of the falls, and the recession of the falls would ren- 
der them useless. To prevent this a heavy framework of 
wooden chutes has been built and heavily buttressed, so as 
to completely cover the rocks at the falls and prevent 
them from wearing away, thus making the falls station- 
ary. But the old scenic beauty has been destroyed. x\t 
Rochester, New York, where the Genessee River plunges 
over the escarpment toward Lake Ontario, a series of falls 
and gorges is found which is explained in the same man- 
ner as Niagara Falls. It will be of interest to compare 
other falls in North America, like those of the upper Mis- 
souri, Yellowstone Falls in the park, and the falls of the 
Columbia, with those of Niagara, to see if similar causes 
are operative. Later in the study of Europe, Africa, and 
other lands, we may compare the falls of the Rhine, of the 
Nile, the Zambezi, and the Congo with those of Niagara, 
in their effect upon navigation and traffic. 




Fig. 22. 



THE JAMES RIVER 



The James River, rising in the high crests of the Alle- 
ghany Mountains, drains a part of the Great Valley of 

48 



THE JAMES BIVER 49 

Virginia, and then breaking tlirongli tlie Bine Ridge at 
Baleonj' Falls flows across the nplands between the 
mountains and the border of the lowlands. Then, de- 
scending in rapids across the granite escarpment at 
Richmond, it flows through the tide-water lowlands, 
more than a hundred miles, to the southern end of 
Chesapeake Bay. Here, joining its waters with those of 
the broad bay, it does not reach the ocean till it passes 
between the opposite capes of Charles and Henry. 

In passing from the highest ridges of Great .North 
Mountain on the west, covered with lieavy forests, till 
it reaches tlie tidal Avaters which mingle Avith the ocean, 
the James River travels through a widely diversified 
country, — liigli mountains, upland valleys, mountain 
gorges, pine-clad foot-hills, rolling plateaus, rocky ledges, 
sandy barriers, and rich lowland flats and marshes. 

Just at the mouth of the James, one who is sailing 
up the river meets a number of interesting and well- 
remembered places. Old Point Comfort with its huge 
hotels. Fortress Monroe, Newport News on the north 
side of tlie broad entrance, and Portsmouth and Norfolk 
on the south side, and lying between the two are the 
wide-stretcliing Avaters of Hampton Roads, which has 
been called the finest landlocked harbor on the eastern 
coast of the United States. The harbor of Norfolk ad- 
mits large ocean-going steamers, and it is tlie terminus of 
railroad lines from the west and south, wdiicli has made it 
a great shipping point for coal, cotton, lumber, tobacco, 
vegetables, and other products. Norfolk is also connected 
by navigable Avaters Avith Richmond, Avith Baltimore, 
Washington, and other cities on the Chesapeake, by canal 
through the Great Dismal Swamp southward to Pamlico 



50 TYPE STUDIES 

and Albemarle sounds, and with all the cities of the At- 
lantic coast and, of Europe by the ocean. 

At Newport News one may see one of the great ship- 
yards for the building of ocean steamers and war vessels, 
supplied also with dry docks for the overhauling of great 
ships. 

Near Fortress Monroe is the famous Negro and Indian 
School of Hampton, founded and long directed by General 
Armstrong. 

In the waters of Hampton Roads in 1862 the little Mon- 
itor gave battle to the iron-clad battle ship Merrimuc and 
saved the Union from what seemed a great danger. On the 
other side of the narrow peninsula which separates the 
James and the York rivers is Yorktown, where was fought 
the last great battle of the Revolution. 

The mouth of the James, with its shallows and bays, 
like the other broad river mouths of the Chesapeake, 
abounds in fish and oysters. This is the favorite region 
for the best oyster farms, and these cities are centres for 
collecting and shipping fish and oysters. 

Passing up the James River, a few miles of sailing 
brings us to the site of Jamestown, where the early colo- 
nists struggled for the first permanent footliold in the 
United States, and where John Smith showed himself so 
daring and prudent in providing for the settlers; and just 
to the north of this deserted place is Williamsburg, famous 
during colonial days as the capital of Virginia. 

The low, rich land on these peninsulas at the mouth of 
the James and other rivers in Virginia has become in later 
years the great region of truck farming, where so many 
vegetables and small fruits are raised for the northern 
market, especially for Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other 



THE JAMES RIVER 



51 



cities on or near the coast. Potatoes, radishes, onions, 
lettuce, celery, sweet potatoes, strawberries, and melons 
are raised in large quantities and shipped to the north. 
The alluvial soils brought down by the rivers are very 
rich along these coasts. 

The climate of the coast region is mild and moist be- 
cause of nearness to the ocean, while the Alleghany Moun- 




FiG. 24. 

A view in the Dismal Swamp. The cypress knees and roots are seen rising 
to a level above the reach of hii>h water. 

tains shut out the cold northwest winds. Soatluvard also 
on the lowlands of the ('arolinas and (leorgia truck farm- 
ing has greatly extended, and along the Florida coast, even 
ill winter time, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, celery, and fruits 
are shipped northward in great abundance. Not only 
along the low coast lands of Virginia, therefore, but all 



52 



TYPE STUDIES 



along the Atlantic 
coast from New 
Jersey to the 
southern coast of 
Florida truck 
farming and small 
fruit growing have 
gained great im- 
portance. 

Much of this 
lowland is sandy 
and barren and is 
unproductive ex- 
cept for forests of 
pine and oak. The 
region of the Great 
Dismal Swamp 
south of Norfolk 
is rich in cy]3ress, 
pine, and cedar. 
Since the days of 
John Smith these 
pine woods have 
been used to pro- 
duce tar and tur- 
pentine. From 
Virginia south- 
ward through the 
Carolinas, Georgia, 
and tlie far south into Fh)rida, the low, sandy lands are 
rich in turpentine woods,. and the coast cities like Norfolk, 
Charleston, Savainiah, and Jacksonville are ports for its 
shipment. 




Fig. 25. 

Map of Chesapeake Bay, to show (by heavy line) the 
way in whi(;li the various rivers would unite into 
a single trunk stream il" the land were elevated. 



THE JAMES RIVER 63 

The James River below Richmond is a tidal river; 
like the Hudson, it is a drowned valley. In fact, the 
whole Chesapeake Bay, with its broad estuaries of 
the Potomac, James, etc., was once above sea-level and 
the Susquehanna River flowed down past Cape Charles 
and Cape Henry and far beyond. Tlie settling of these 
river valleys below the sea-level has admitted the ocean 



- 












.1] 


MB 


' W^^/^V*; 


^^J^^^^ 


1 


-8 

i 


II 


1 


B^y^^^^itf* -" 


"£^^3 






^ 


tiH^^H^^^l 


^Ib 


H 


1 






1 


»^^^1^^1E^H 


1 


m ~ ^ 


i^B 






1 


^BH 


H 



Fig. 26. 
James River Falls, showing the ancient rocks. 

and formed those broad baj^s and estuaries which have so 
many excellent harbors, and have produced such fine 
oyster beds and fisliing grounds. 

Vessels requiring fourteen feet of water can sail up the 
James River as far as Richmond, 117 milen, where the 
river tumbles down over a ridge of granite rocks, 100 
feet of fall in about six mik^s. This rocky ridge is 
the boundary line between the lowlands of the tide-water 
region of Virginia and the more liilly uplands. In the 
early history of Virginia the great tobacco phintations were 



64 



TYPE STUDIES 



in this lowland belt, and as there were no railroads and 
few good wagon roads, the ships from the ocean came up 
the James and other rivers to the plantations and loaded 
from the private wharves of the planters. In those days 
there were no large cities, but since railroads have be- 
coDie the chief means of transportation, cities like Nor- 




Fia. 27. 
Tlie Washington Monument and the State Capitol. 

folk and Richmond have become great centres of popula- 
tion. 

The city of Richmond is finely located on a group of 
hills at tlie upper edge of tlie tide-water region. This 
elevation al)Ove tlie lowlands gives it a healtliier position, 
and the water-i)0wer of the falls naturally is used for flour- 
mills. Up to the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, 



THE JAMES RIVER 55 

Richmond was the great centre of trade for a large part of 
the south. Ocean-going vessels came to its docks in large 
numbers. It was one of the chief centres for the tea 
trade with Asia. The tobacco business, both for manu- 
facturing and shipment, was extensive, and the agricul- 
tural products of both the uplands and lowlands met here. 
The old Capitol building on the top of one of the hills is 
still the most interesting and commanding object in the 
city. Here are found the famous statues of Washington 
and Stonewall Jackson. 

Soon after the war broke out Richmond was naturally 
made the capital of the southern Confederacy. The city 
was surrounded by heavy fortifications and earthworks. 
The old line of outer earthworks and ditches can still be 
seen three or four miles out from the city, while seven or 
eight miles out are some of the famous battle-grounds, 
which are much visited by tourists. Libby Prison in 
Richmond was famous during the war as the place where 
captured Union soldiers were kept. As the city of Rich- 
mond was evacuated at the close of the war the great 
warehouses Avere set on fire and the city much damaged. 

Virginia had suffered more during the war than any 
other state. (Ireat armies liad marched back and forth, 
laying waste its fields, destroying its cities, and tearing 
up its railroads. ]Many great battles had been fought, 
and it was at Appomattox Court- House tliat Lee finahy 
surrendered to Cirant. The slaves had been set free, so 
the old system of labor was destroyed. 

At the close of the war, therefore, the once prosperous 
city of Riclnnond was in ruins, and the whole state was in a 
miserable condition. It lias taken many years to ])ui]d up 
again tlie agriculture and commerce of the state. I>ut of 



56 TYPE STUDIES 

late years Richmond lias again become very important as 
a railroad centre, and as a manufacturing city for iron 
products and cotton goods. Tobacco is collected and 
manufactured extensively and the agricultural products are 
collected for shipment. It has now a population of eighty- 
five thousand and is much more important than it was 
before the war. 

The upland region of Virginia, drained by the James 
River, from the edge of the tide-water to the foot of the 
Blue Ridge, is a rolling hilly country suitable for farming, 
w^here grain, corn, tobacco, and fruits are raised and where 
cattle and other live stock are plentiful. It is a healthful 
and productive region where there are many good farms 
and the county seats are important towns and cities. 

That part of this upland which lies close to the foot-hills 
is called the Piedmont plateau and has a number of fine 
cities like Lynchburg, Danville, and Charlottesville. 
Charlottesville, on a north branch of the James River, is the 
seat of the famous University of Virginia, founded by Jeffer- 
son. The well-wooded foot-hills, with evergreen and hard- 
wood trees, lie about Charlottesville, and the hazy outlines 
of the Blue Ridge are seen toward the west. About three 
miles from Charlottesville, on the rounded summit of a hill 
several hundred feet above the town, Jefferson laid out 
extensive grounds and built his home, Monticello. A fine 
old road winds up through the heavily forested hillside, 
past the monument and burial-place of Jefferson, to the 
grand old mansion witli its broad porches. A few old 
trees, the remnants of the ancient forests, shade the lawn 
from which one surveJ^s a broad sweep of valley and moun- 
tain. On one side, just at the foot of tlie hills, lies 
Charlottesville in plain sight, and jast beyond it the domes 



THE JAME>^ PJVER 



57 



and colonnades of tlie Lniversity buildings. On the other 
side and just in front lies a wide-spreading valley enclosed 
between high ridges, and within this stretch of vision are 
the old homes of several Presidents of the United States, 




Fig. 28. 
James River in the Blue Kid^ce Mountains. 



as Monroe and Madison, and the birtliplace of George 
liogers Clark and his brother, William Clark, famous in 
the Lewis and Clark expedition up the Missouri. The 
historic associations of the region about Charlottesville 
make it of i^a'cat interest to all Americans. 



58 TYPE STUDIES 

To the southwest of Charlottesville the James River 
breaks through the Blue Ridge Mountain range, making a 
famous gorge, and through this gap pass two of the rail- 
roads connecting the inner valley with the Piedmont dis- 
trict just east of the Blue Ridge. On a railroad map we 
may notice that there are several of these gaps in the Blue 
Ridge where the railroads pass through. 

The upper James and its branches drain a considerable 
part of the Great Valley which stretches southward from 
Pennsylvania to Tennessee, and lies just west of the long 
line of the Blue Ridge. In Virginia, the central part of 
this long valley is drained by the James, the northern part 
by the Shenandoah, and the southern part by New River 
which flows westward into West Virginia. 

The Great Valley of Virginia, shut in by mountains on 
both sides, is a fruitful region for grains and pasture-lands. 
Parts of it have a limestone foundation and are known as 
blue-grass belts. It is a hilly region, higher and cooler 
than that part of Virginia east of the mountains, and the 
farm products are more like those in Ohio and Pennsyl- 
vania and states farther north. An examination of the 
map will show a fine series of small cities along the course 
of the Great Valley in Virginia, as Winchester, Staunton, 
and Roanoke. Washington in his early days as a young 
surveyor explored a part of the Shenandoah Valley. In 
early history the people of Virginia passed down to 
the settlement of Tennessee through the Great Valley. 
During the Civil War several of the marches of the raid- 
ing armies and important battles, as that of Winchester, 
were witnessed in this mountain valley. It is but natural 
that this long valley should be the route followed by a 
railway, and on a map we may easily trace such a railway 



THE JAMES RIVER 



59 



from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Chattanooga, Tenn- 
essee. 

That part of the valley drained by the James River is 
interesting on account of tlie Natural Bridge and other 




Fig. 29. 

Natural Bridiie, Viro:inia. Tliis bridge is a part of an old cavern roof, the 
remainder having been removed by weathering. 

scenery. Mineral springs, as tlie White Suli)hnr, are also 
much visited by tourists in this mountain region. The 
sources of tlie James are on the highest slopes of the great 
north mountain range where the valley sides are clothed 



60 TYPE STUDIES 

with a thick forest of evergreen and hard woods. The 
boundary between Virginia and West Virginia is an 
irregular line which follows the high ridges of these rough 
and forest-clad mountains. In early days these track- 
less and forbidding ridges almost shut out the Virginians 
from West Virginia and Kentucky. The New River, 
which is the upper part of the Great Kanawha, has 
cut its way through all these mountain barriers, and the 
Cliesapeake and Ohio Railroad, following the valley and 
gorges of this stream and frequently tunnelling the cliffs, 
has been built through one of the most interesting and 
picturesque parts of the Alleghanies. The James River 
drains the eastern slopes of the mountains just opposite the 
Great Kanawha, and it is by following the gorges cut by 
these rivers that railroads are able to make their way 
across this series of mountain ridges, thus connecting the 
east with the west. The ridge, however, Avliich separates 
the head waters of opposing streams, must be tunnelled. 

In following the elames River from its mouth at Old 
Point Comfort to its highest springs on the wooded moun- 
tain sides we are gradually climbing into a colder climate. 
At Fortress Monroe the winters are so mild that the live 
oak flourishes and holds its green leaves all the year. But 
on the crests of the Alleghanies the winters are cold and 
severe, and the trees are like those of Canada and the 
north. Virginia has thus a great varietj^ of productions, 
of soil, of surface, and of climate. 

In passing from the mouth of the James River west- 
ward to the mountains we pass across different belts as 
follows : First, Norfolk, representing the line of coast 
cities which are important seaports, as Baltimore, Wil- 
mington, Charleston, Savannah, and Jacksonville. They 



THE JAMES BIVER 61 

are connected not only by ocean-going vessels in the coast- 
wise trade, but a line of inshore water traffic is traced 
from Delaware Bay by canal to the head of Chesapeake 
Bay, from Norfolk by canal to Albemarle Sound, and 
southward, behind the islands of Carolina, (xeorgia, and 
Florida. Florida has an inshore navigable water route 
for about six hundred miles. Second, all the way from 
Long Island Sound to southern Florida the fisheries and 
oyster beds abound in these insliore Avaters. Tliird, about 
Norfolk also we find the truck farming, which extends 
along the coast from New Jersey to Florida. Fourth, just 
back from the coast is the belt of turpentine forests, which 
occupy the sandy barrens of many of the southern states. 
A series of railroads also connects the seaport cities, one 
of which is called the Atlantic Coast Line, running mainly 
parallel -with the shore line. Fifth, Richmond, on the fall 
line between tide-water and the uplands, represents a whole 
series of such cities as Raleigh, Columbia, Augusta, and 
Macon. These are also important railroad centres and lie 
usuallj^ at the head of river navigation. Sixth, the cities 
of the Piedmont belt, close to the foot-hills, are also con- 
nected by a long railway line, the Great Southern, passing 
through Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Danville, Greens- 
boro, Charlotte, and Atlanta. Seventh, the Blue Ridge 
Mountain chain with its passes. Eighth, within the moun- 
tains, the cities of the Great Valley, from Harrisburg and 
Harper's Ferry to Knoxville and Chattanooga, are con- 
nected by a long line of railway. Thus it is seen that the 
chief railroad traffic routes of the whole Atlantic slope 
run at right angles to the river courses and follow these 
distinctly marked belts. In these respects the James is a 
type of Atlantic coast rivers. 



62 TYPE STUDIES 

A comparison of the James River with the Hudson in 
the following points will prove instructive and interest- 
ing : — 

1. Cities and railroad centres at the mouth, harbors, and 
bays. 

2. The tide-water region of each. The advantages for 
river commerce. 

3. Richmond and Albany at the head of navigation. 

4. The sources of the rivers in the mountains. The 
forests and scenery. 

5. The points of historic interest along the Hudson and 
the James rivers. 

6. The geological history, drowned river valleys, oyster 
beds, etc. 

The comparison of the James River with the Potomac, 
Roanoke, and Santee as coastal streams will also be valuable. 



A COAL-MINE 

In many parts of Illinois the coal-beds lie under our 
feet. Many towns and cities in the central and southern 
part of the state have good coal-mines. So great is the 
value of the Illinois coal-fields that the black soil of the 
prairies is scarcely a better source of wealth than the coal- 
beds that lie from fifty to five hundred feet below the 
surface. About thirty-five thousand square miles, nearly 
two-thirds of the state, are underlaid by these rich coal 
deposits. The borings for coal in different counties reveal 
that sixteen distinct layers of coal have been found, rang- 
ing from one to nine feet in thickness. Sometimes three 
or four workable coal veins have been opened by a single 
boring, as at Bloomington and Springfield. 

The coal-beds lie in layers or strata. Like the rock 
strata of sandstone and limestone, from which our build- 
ing stone comes, the coal seams lie in horizontal layers 
between the layers of rock and sand. When first formed 
upon the surface, they were not coal-beds, but consisted 
of a thick matting of reeds, ferns, and tree trunks. As 
the land sunk, water flowed over these beds, collecting 
thick layers of mud, sand, and gravel over them, which 
afterward changed into rock. The layer of plants and 
trees changed into coal. 

The three most common ways of entering a coal-bed are 
bj^ drift, slope, and shaft. The drift is begun in a hill- 
side where the coal seams crop out. After removing the 

63 



64 TYPE STUDIES 

dirt and rubbish, a passage is worked into the coah From 
fifteen to eighteen feet is the ordinary width to accommo- 
date two tracks, and ten feet will readily accommodate 
one. Seven feet is an average height, but it may be 
higher. The floor of the drift must have a constant 
upward grade as it progresses inward, in order that the 
water may run out and that loaded cars may be hauled 
more easily. The mouth of the drift must be above the 
adjacent valley or stream, so that the water may be car- 
ried away. It is usually necessary to support the roof 
and sides of the drift by timbers, joined together in the 
form of a bent and placed more or less close to each other. 
The drift is the simplest and most economical way of 
making an entrance to a mine, as there is no expense, for 
sinking the shaft, cutting through the rock, pumping out 
the water, or hoisting the coal. But most of the coal-beds 
lie below the level of the streams and valleys. 

If there is an outcrop of coal on the tract to be mined, 
and the dip of the seam (downward into the hill) is not 
more than twenty degrees, it is usually advisable to enter 
the mine by means of a slope. This is a passage which, 
beginning at the outcrop, follows the coal seam down 
until the necessary depth is reached. It is driven in the 
coal. Tlie slope in some of the coal-fields is driven down 
about three liundred feet, at which point gangways are 
opened out to right and left, and chambers extended 
from tliem back toward the surface. 

In early mining operations, the drift and the slope were 
much used in entering the coal-fields, as they were easier 
and cheaper, but most of the beds capable of being entered 
in this way have been mined out, and the coal seam is 
now usually reached by a shaft. 



A COAL-MINE 



65 



The shaft is like a great well sunk straight into the 
earth. Before beginning a shaft, it is desirable to locate 
the coal-bed and its slant as nearly as possible. This is 
done by studying the rocks of tlie surrounding country 
and by boring. Since a shaft costs frequently from 




Fig. 30. 

Diagram to illustrate how coal is dug out of the beds in tuimels, and raised 
to the surface throuoii shafts. 



125,000 to $100,000, it is desirable to make no mistakes 
in its location. 

In beginning to open the shaft, a rectangular hole is 
dug from four to eight feet wider and longer than the 
proposed dimensions of the shaft, and the soil and loose 
stones are thrown out from large areas until the bed-rock 
is reached. 

From this rock a cribbing of solid timber tAvelve inches 
thick is built up to the surface, on the four sides of the 
opening, to prevent the earth from caving in. Sometimes 



66 TYPE STUDIES 

heavy walls of masonry instead of the timber cribbing are 
built. When this has been accomplished, sinking through 
the rocks goes on by the ordinary process of blasting, 
plumb-lines being held at the corners of tlie shaft to keep 
the opening vertical. 

The horizontal dimensions of the modern shaft average 
about twelve feet in width by thirty in length. The 
space is divided crosswise down the entire depth of the 
shaft into compartments, of which there are usually four. 
Tlie first of the compartments is the pnmp-way, space de- 
voted to pipes, pump-rods, and other appliances connected 
with the pumping system. To tliis, six feet in breadth 
are allowed. Then comes in succession the two carriage 
ways, each of which may be seven feet wide, and finally 
the air-passage, by which the foul air is exhausted from 
the mine, and to which ten feet are appropriated. The 
air-passage is boarded up and made as nearly as possible 
air-tight. Tlie carriage in each of tlie carriage passages 
is raised and lowered by a wire cable, fastened to the 
middle of the cross-beam above. The cars of coal, as well 
as the men, are raised and lowered by means of these car- 
riages, and great care for safety is taken in their construc- 
tion and use. 

The safety carriage is now generally in use in at least 
one of the hoisting passages. It is built of wrought iron 
instead of wood ; it has a bonnet or roof to protect against 
falling bodies; and it has safety clutches or dogs to stop 
the carriage and hold it in place in case of accident by 
breakage of the rope or machinery. 

It costs usually from $300 to $500 a yard to sink a 
shaft with four such compartments, and sometimes a shaft 
that has been begun at ti, great expense may have to be 



A COAL-MINE 67 

abandoned because of the great rush of water or of a bed 
of quicksand. 

It is usually intended to sink the shaft at such a point 
that its foot will strike the lowest part of the coal-bed, 
which usually slopes. In working out into the coal area 
from tlie foot of the shaft, the slope will always be up- 
ward and the water will flow toward the foot of the shaft 
whence it can be pumped out. Usually a sort of water 
basin is excavated on the lower side near the foot of the 
shaft. In this cistern the water collects from all parts of 
the mine and an engine above pumps it through the pipes 
of the water-passage and discharges it above ground. 
Sometimes it takes a powerful' engine constantly pumping 
to keep down the level of the water in the mine. 

From the first it is necessary to secure a good circulation 
of air througli the passages and chambers, so that foul 
air and gases produced in the mine can be constantly 
removed. From the foot of the shaft, on one side, a passage 
is cut through the coal from ten to fourteen feet wide. 
This is one of the main gangways. After reaching a 
short distance, a narrow passage, six feet wide, is cut at 
right angles to the gangway to a distance of from fifteen 
to thirty feet. At the extremity of this cross-heading a 
passage is run parallel to the gangway. After running 
the gangway and this last air-passage parallel for a dis- 
tance of sixty or more feet, they are connected again by a 
cross-heading. It is evident now that we have a square 
enclosed by tunnels, namely by the gangway, the air-pas- , 
sage, and the two cross-headings. It is possible, therefore, 
to cause the fresh air to pass round this square and to re- 
turn, collecting the gases and other impurities on the way 
through the passage and driving tliem back on its return 



68 TYPE STUDIES 

to the foot of the shaft where they are all carried up the 
air-passage to the open day. By means of a wooden par- 
tition in the gangway, and an extra air-passage, the foul 
air on its return is kept separate from the fresh air that 
enters the mine from the main shaft. This current of air 
is kept in motion by a fan driven by a steam-engine. It 
stands not far from the foot of the shaft and sends the 
foul air in a strong current up the shaft. The fresh air 
passes down the carriage or elevator passage to make good 
this deficiency. In this way a constant circulation is kept 
up in the mine. This constant stream of fresh air is nec- 
essary to the miners because the fire-damp and other foul 
and explosive gases collect rapidly in the mine, and would 
soon make it not only dangerous but impossible to work 
longer. 

As soon as proper arrangements have been made for the 
circulation of air and for pumping out the water that con- 
stantly accumulates, the regular work of mining the coal 
can be begun. The coal between the main gangway and 
the air-passage is left standing as a support to the roof of 
the mine. The miners begin now to open a way from the 
air-passage outward, and after a narrow opening, wide 
enough for a coal car, has been cut to a distance of fifteen 
feet, the miner begins to mine away the coal and form a 
chamber from twenty-four to thirty-six feet wide ; a track 
is also laid from the chamber to the foot of the shaft. The 
coal is removed by the car on the track and carried to the 
mouth of tlie shaft to be raised above ground. A second 
chamljer parallel to the first is then dug, connecting in the 
same manner with the air-passage. A partition of coal 
from fourteen to twenty feet thick separates the two 
(;liaml)ers. In order to secure a circulation of air through 



A COAL-MINE 



69 



these chambers a passage is cut through this partition and 
the air-passage outside of the chambers is closed up by a 
wooden partition so that the air in its circuit passes 
through the chambers. The chambers are now extended 
deeper into the vein of coal ; at every twenty-four or 
twenty-six feet a new 
air-passage is opened up, 
while the old one is 
closed, thus causing the 
air to circulate close up 
to where the men are 
working. Several of 
these chambers are car- 
ried up parallel to each 
other into the vein of 
coal at the same time, 
and as the coal is dug 
away it is removed in 
cars to the mouth of the 
shaft, while the air is 
kept fresh in them all. 

The number of per- 
sons employed in a 
single mine varies from 
a dozen in the newest 
and smaller mines to 
seven or eight hundred in the largest and busiest. There 
are generally four workmen, two miners, and two laborers 
employed in eacli chamber. The miners are employed l)y 
the coal company and the laborers are employed by the 
miners. The miners belong to the aristocracy of the 
underground workers. 




Fig. 31. 
A view in a coal-mine in Pennsylvania. 



70 TYPE STUDIES 

After working a few feet into the coal, props usually 
become necessary to prevent the roof from falling. The 
hard-wood props used are nine inches in diameter. They 
are furnished in large quantities by the mining companies. 
The miner as he advances into the coal sets up these props 
where there seems danger of the roof falling and makes 
them firm against the ceiling by driving a flat wedge be- 
tween the top of the prop and the coal. This flat wedge 
also remains and causes the prop to hold up a larger sec- 
tion of the roof of the mine. 

Sometimes the props are not so much needed. The 
chief work of the miner is to blast out the coal from the face 
of the chamber and set up the props. When ready to begin 
blasting he takes up the drill, an iron rod five and a half feet 
long and more than an inch in diameter. It is sharp like 
a chisel at the point. With quick, sharp strokes and by 
turning the drill in his hands, the miner works a hole into 
the face of the coal about four and a half feet deep. After 
this hole has been cleaned out, a cartridge containing black 
powder is pushed into the farthest extremity of the hole. 
Fine moist dust is then pressed against the cartridge, leav- 
ing a small hole from which a fuse may reach the cartridge. 
The fuse is then laid in this hole and lighted. The miner 
cries '' Fire," and the men hasten to get behind some pillar 
or wall of coal. The fuse burns slowly and the men have 
plenty of time to escape from danger. The explosion 
throws out a considerable quantity of coal into the cham- 
ber in large and small pieces. Soon the miner is at work 
boring another hole for blasting. But the boring is often 
very difficult and laborious ; sometimes the miner works on 
his hands and knees, sometimes lying on his back on the wet 
floor, sometimes holding the drill higli above his head and 



A COAL-MINE 71 

sometimes lie uses a machine drill worked by a crank. 
When the miner has blasted down the coal and set up the 
props, his day's work is done. He enters the mine at seven 
or before, and often has his day's work done by ten or eleven 
o'clock. The laborer has to break up the cliunks of coal, 
load the cars, move them to the gangway, and keep the 
chamber clean for work. His day's work lasts longer 
than the miner's, but he hopes some day to be a miner 
himself. 

Boys are often employed in the mines to drive the mules 
back and forth from the foot of the shaft with the trains 
of cars. Sometimes they open and close the doors in the 
air-passages. In Pennsylvania they are prohibited from 
working in the mines under fourteen years of age. 

The dangers connected with mining are numerous, and 
the law requires that many precautions shall be taken 
to prevent accident and death. Some of the chief dan- 
gers are from caving in of the roof, from explosions of 
Kre-damp, from deadly gases, from flooding the mines 
with water, from tires in the shaft or in the tunnels. 
Besides these, there is danger from the falling of cars and 
other objects in the shaft, from collisions between the cars, 
etc. One of the most common dangers is from the caving 
in of the roof ; in spite of the care taken to prop up the 
roof with heavy posts, the roof caves in, breaking the 
posts and crushing the men to death. It happens some- 
times very suddenly, and in some cases several acres of 
tunnels have fallen at once, burying many men. At 
times the men can tell by the creaking noises that the roof 
is about to fall and can save themselves. 

Fire-damp and other inflammable gases are constantly 
oozing from the coal in some deep mines, and unless the 



72 TYPE STUDIES 

current of air is strong, they collect and are ignited by a 
lamp, causing an explosion. As these burning gases, be- 
ing lighter than the air, lie along the roof of the mine, the 
miner throws himself with his face to the ground and his 
arms around his head to escape the heat above. But as 
soon as the gases have burned out, he rises quickly and 
escapes, as the poisonous after-damp, or smoke from the 
fire, settles to the ground, and a single breath of this 
will suffocate the miner. 

In some cases a flood of water and mud has been known 
to break through the wall of the mine and drown or bury 
the men suddenly. This is especially apt to be the case 
when a new mine is being worked near an old, abandoned 
one, in which great quantities of water have been allowed 
to collect. 

Fires have sometimes broken out in mines, resulting in 
the death of hundreds of workmen. Men are suffocated 
by the smoke, heat, and gases produced. In a few cases 
the buildings over the shaft have first taken fire and then 
the woodwork in the shaft, and gradually the mine below. 
Of course the air currents were stopped and the men 
below suffocated.^ 

The machinery connected with a large coal-mine is 
varied and extensive. Not far from the entrance to tlie 
shaft are engine-houses, for hoisting the carriages, coal, 
men, etc., also the engine for pumping the water from the 
mine. The elevators or carriages have tracks on the floor 

1 In some states laws have been passed by the state legislatures 
forbidding wooden buildings over the mouths of shafts. They are 
apt to catch on fire and then set the mine on fire, producing great dis- 
asters. In some states a second shaft is also required, through which 
miners may escape in case of fire. 



A COAL-MINE 73 

upon which the loaded coal-cars can be run. Mules are 
used in the gangways and air-passages for hauling the cars 
to and from the shaft. Sometimes a stable is fitted up in 
the mine and the mules are kept below. Wooden tracks 
are laid for the cars. Air-boxes are laid in places for con- 
ducting fresh air. Besides these things there are tools, 
powder, lamps, and oil needed in mining. 

Above ground in the anthracite coal regions is the 
large building known as the breaker^ where the large 
chunks of coal are broken between great revolving wheels 
or cylinders with pointed iron teeth. The broken coal 
then passes into wire screens with small meshes, through 
which the fine pieces drop and the coarser pieces pass 
on to coarser screens, till at length the larger pieces are 
dropped through. In this way the coal is separated into 
several varieties according to the size of the lump, such as 
lump coal, egg coal, nut coal, etc. In the breakers boys 
are also employed to sit in the troughs and chutes to pick 
out the pieces of slate and stone and throw them to oue 
side. 

" The first visit to a mine ^ is full of strange sights and 
sounds. The first noteworthy thing is the descent on the 
cage or carriage. Under the care of the mine foreman, 
we were allowed to go down. From the head to the foot 
of every shaft a speaking-tube extends, and signalling 
ai)paratus, which is continued to the engine-room. At 
the head of the shaft is stationed a head-man and at the foot 
of the shaft a foot-man, whose assistants aid in pushing the 
cars on and off the carriages. The foot-man is notified of 
your coming as you take your place in the empty safety 
carriage. It swings liglitly as you step on it realizing 
^ Greene's "Coal and Coal Mines/' Houghton, Miftlin, & Co. 



74 TYPE STUDIES 

that besides the few inches of planking under your feet 
there is nothing between you and the floor of the mine 
five hundred feet or more below you. When all is ready the 
foreman cries, ' Slack off ! ' the carriage is slightly raised, 
and the descent begins. If the carriage goes down as 
rapidly as usual, your first sensation will be that of falling, 
and your first impulse will be to grasp something above 
you. Then it will seem as if the motion were reversed, 
and there will be an alternation of these sensations during 
the minute or two occupied in the descent. Finally, the 
motion of the carriage becomes suddenly slower and you 
feel it strike gently at the bottom of the shaft. 

" As you step into the darkness nothing is visible to you 
except the shifting flames of the workmen's lamps. After 
a few minutes you are able to distinguish objects that are 
ten or fifteen feet away. You can see through the murky 
atmosphere the rough walls of the solid coal about you, 
the flat, black, moist roof overhead, and the mine car track 
at your feet. The carriages appear and disappear and are 
loaded and unloaded at the foot of the shaft, while the 
passage at one. side of which you sit is filled with mine 
cars, mules, and miner boys in apoarently inextricable 
confusion. The body of a mule looms up suddenly in 
front of you, you catch a glimpse of a boy hurrying by 
you, a swarthy face lighted up by the flame of a lamp 
gleams out of the darkness, but the body that belongs to 
it is in deep shadow ; you cannot see it. 

'' Bare, brawny arms become visible and are withdrawn, 
men's voices sound strange, there is a constant rumbling 
of cars, a regular clicking sound as the carriage stops and 
starts, incessant shouting of the boys ; somewhere the 
sound of falling water. Such are the sights and sounds at 



A COAL-MINE 75 

the shaft's foot. If now you pass in along the gangway, 
throwing the light to your feet to see, there will be a 
sense of confinement in the narrow passage with its low 
roof and close, black walls. Occasionally you will have 
to crowd against the rib to let a trip of mine cars pass by, 
drawn by a smoking mule, in charge of a boy with soiled 
face and greasy clothes. You are lucky if you are in a 
mine where the roof is so high that you need not bend 
over as you walk. The men whom you meet have little 
lamps on their caps, smoking and flaming in the strong 
air current. Everything is black and dingy. Now you 
come to a door on the upper side of the gangway. A 
small boy jumps up from a bench and pulls the door open 
for the party to pass through. As it closes behind you 
the strong current nearly extinguishes your lamp. You 
walk along tlie air-way for a little distance and then you 
come to the foot of the chamber. Up somewhere in the 
darkness, apparently far away, you see four lights 
twinkling ; they appear and disappear, they waver from 
side to side, they bob up and down, till you wonder what 
strange contortions the people who carry them must be 
going through to give them such erratic movements. By 
and by there is a cry of 'Firel' It is repeated several 
times. Three lights move suddenly down the chamber 
and disappear, then the fourth one approaches and disap- 
pears also. The men who carry them have hidden behind 
pillars. You wait, one, two, three minutes, looking into 
the darkness. Then there is a sudden wavelike movement 
in the air; it strikes your face; you feel it in your ears; the 
flame of your lamp is blown aside. Immediately there is 
a sound of explosion and the crash of falling blocks of 
coal. Soon the lights reappear, all four of them, and 



76 TYPE STUDIES 

advance toward the face. In a minute they are swallowed 
up in the powder smoke that has rolled out from the blast. 
But when the smoke has reached and passed you the air is 
clear again, and the lights twinkle and dance as merrily as 
they did before the blast was fired. Now you go up the 
chamber, being careful not to stumble over the high caps 
into the notches with which the wooden rails of the track 
are lined. On one side is a wall built up with pieces of 
slate and the refuse of the mine ; on the other you can 
reach out and touch the heavy wooden props that support 
the roof. Up at the face there is a scene of great activity. 
Bare-armed men, without coat or vest, are working with 
bar and pick and shovel, moving the fallen coal from the 
face, breaking it, loading it into the mine car which stands 
near by. The miners are at the face prying down loose 
pieces of coal. One takes his lamp and flashes its light 
along the black, broken, shiny surface, deciding upon the 
best point to begin the next drill hole, and giving quick 
orders to the laborers. He takes up his drill, balances it 
in his hand, strikes a certain point on the surface wdth it, 
turning it slightly at each stroke. He has taken his posi- 
tion lying on his side perhaps, and then begins the regular 
tap, tap of the drill into the coal. The laborers, having 
loaded the mine car, remove the block from the wheel, and 
now, grasping the end of it firmly, hold back on it as it 
moves by gravity down the chamber to the gangway. You 
may follow it out, watch the driver boy as he attaches it to 
his trip, and go with him to the foot of the shaft. 

" You have seen something of the ceaseless activity and 
noise of a mine when hundreds of men are at work. But 
when you are alone in such a place, or in an abandoned mine, 
the stillness is profound like nothing above ground." 



A COAL-MINE 77 

The above description applies especially to the anthra- 
cite coal region, where the coal is got out by blasting, and 
large buildings above ground, called hreakei^s^ prepare the 
coal by crushing and separating it for the market. 

The bituminous or soft coal fields are worked upon a 
somewhat different plan. The seams of coal do not lie so 
deep, drifts are much more used, and instead of drilling 
holes into the coal, grooves are cut, and then by prying or 
blasting, the coal is got free. The soft-coal beds are more 
level and uniform, and for this reason more easily worked. 

If we turn to the uses to which coal is put after reach- 
ing the surface, we shall begin to see the importance of 
this business. Tlie mines are usually along railroad lines 
or rivers, which distribute the coal to those districts where 
it is most used. The railroads themselves consume a 
great deal in their locomotive engines for freight and pas- 
senger service. The railroad machine shops depend upon 
coal for putting their machinery in motion, for their fur- 
naces, forges, stationary engines, etc. In our towns and 
cities the multitude of factories depend almost entirely 
upon coal, as in car shops, rolling-mills, glass works, foun- 
dries, factories for the manufacture of carriages, furni- 
ture, boots and shoes, cotton and woollen goods, paper, 
printing-presses, farming implements, etc. Except when 
water-power is used in flour-mills, woollen-mills, etc., most 
of our factories are run by steam-engines. Coal is also of 
importance in most households for heating purposes. 
Dwellings, schoolhouses, and buildings of all sorts are 
heated generally by the use of coal. It is clear, then, that 
coal mining is one of those occupations that is necessary 
to the success of nearly all other kinds of business, and to 
the comfort of most people in their homes. The men who 



^ 



78 



TYPE STUDIES 



are digging in the dark earth far below the surface are 
supplying all other classes of people with the means of 
doing business and of living in comfort. 

That the prairie states of the west be well supplied 
with coal-fields is of special importance. Without these 
underground riches, the states of Illinois and Iowa, for 
example, could not settle up so rapidly ; railroads could 
not have been built and operated, and farmers could not 




Fig. 32. 

ship the rich products of the prairies to the east and re- 
ceive in return the manufactures and other exchanges of 
that section. 

Let us observe the location of the chief coal-fields. In 
Illinois they extend over about two-thirds of the state 
south of a line drawn from Rock Island to Joliet. The 
coal lies at different depths and in separate strata. In a 
number of places the coal veins crop out along the banks 



A COAL-MINE 79 

of creeks and rivers, as at Danville, Peoria, etc., but usu- 
ally vertical shafts are sunk from a hundred to five or six 
hundred feet deep. In the south-central part of the 
state some of the coal-beds lie more than a thousand feet 
below the surface, but only the upper veins, nearer the 
surface, are yet worked. Many thousands of men are 
employed in the coal mines of Illinois. In 1889, 11,597,963 
tons of coal were mined in Illinois, which stands second 
only to Pennsylvania in the amount of coal produced. 

Several of the neighboring states also have extensive 
coal areas. A strip along the southwestern part of 
Indiana yields much coal. This is a continuation of the 
Illinois field, and extends south through Kentucky into 
Tennessee. Altogether these four states have about 
sixty thousand square miles of coal area. 

Another extensive coal-field, larger still, extends through 
central and Avestern Iowa, into Missouri, eastern Nebraska, 
Kansas, Arkansas, and Indian Territory. The whole 
western slope of the Alleghany Mountains also has rich 
coal deposits, as in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, 
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. In Michigan, Colo- 
rado, and Texas, there are also smaller coal areas, besides 
those east of the Alleghanies and west of the Rockies. 
(In order to fix these coal-fields definitely, consult the map 
on the preceding page. Fig. 32 ; also the maps in Trotter's 
'' Geography of Commerce," p. 78, and Frye's '' Complete 
Geography," p. 137.) Locate the coal-fields by states 
on a map and draw the map. 

Notice, on a large map of the United States, the cities 
which lie in or near the coal-fields, and see if they have 
any relation to the shipping of coal, as Pittsburg, Phila- 
delphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, Buffalo, and others. 



80 TYPE STUDIES 

Observe, also, any navigable rivers which may be useful 
in distributing this coal. . Let teacher and pupils draw a 
map of the United States, locating the coal areas by states ; 
also the cities and rivers above suggested. 

The careful and detailed description thus far given of 
the business of coal mining, is designed to bring out 
clearly its importance as related to commerce, manufactur- 
ing, and domestic use, so that when we touch upon coal 
mining and the other occupations to which it is related, 
we shall at once see their significance. 

Later in the study of other kinds of mining operations, 
as in lead, silver, zinc, and gold, the knowledge gained 
from coal-mines will be of much service, and a com- 
parison with coal-mines to point out differences and similar 
methods will be helpful. The knowledge gained from a 
full study of a single typical coal-mine in Pennsylvania 
and in the Mississippi Valley will help not only in under- 
standing coal-mines in other parts of the U]iited States and 
in tlie world, but also for interpreting all kinds of mining 
operations. 

[N'oTE. — Most of the above facts are obtained from Greene's 
" Coal and Coal Mines," published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 



ORANGE GROVES IN FLORIDA 

Flokida for many years was famous for the production 
of sweet and juicy oranges. After the great freeze of 1895, 
which destroyed so many of the groves, oranges had to be 
sought elsewhere. But the production is gradually in- 
creasing and Florida is again coming into the market as a 
large orange producer. 

Up to 1895 the northern part of Florida abounded in 
oranges and the northern people who had wintered in the 
south were accustomed to tell provoking stories of the 
sweet juiciness and cheap abundance of the oranges among 
these semi-tropical orange groves. 

In February, 1895, the warm spring weather had coaxed 
the orange groves into full spring growth. The heavy 
crop of tlie previous season was still hanging in golden 
profusion on the trees, the buds were ready to burst with 
the fragrant blossoms and the trees were full of sap. 
Suddenly one afternoon, in the midst of this balmy 
warmth, the cold wave of a northern blizzard swept down 
over all northern Florida, the thermometer quickly dropped 
far below the freezing-point, before morning the trees were 
covered with an icy sleet, and in one night the whole world 
had changed color. Hundreds of orange groves were 
completely ruined ; not only the rich harvest hanging on 
the trees was blackened and poisoned, but the trees were 
frozen to the ground, dead as old stumps. The bark of 
the trees was split from to}) to bottom and complete deso- 
G 81 



82 TYPE STUDIES 

lation and rottenness soon took the place of the prevailing 
bonnty of a few hours before. In all northern Florida 
scarcely a tree survived this freezing blast. It would take 
from ten to thirty years to bring to perfection such a stand 
of orange trees as were found in the groves before the 
freeze. 

The overwhelming nature of this disaster to the people 
of Florida is better understood when we recall the fact 
that oraDge groves were almost the sole productive wealth 
of the people. They raised almost nothing else ; they had 
very few gardens, or factories, or industries of any kind. 
For many years the people had lived so easily and com- 
fortably upon the products of their orange groves that 
they had taken no trouble to raise potatoes, or corn, or 
onions, or other vegetables, or even other kinds of fruit. 
Tlie owners of good groves felt very secure, and were 
accustomed to buy all their goods from the north and 
often to mortgage the next crop of oranges for payment. 
After the freeze. many families of wealth and comfort had 
absolutely nothing to live upon. A man who the day 
before was supposedly worth '$50,000, as based upon his 
orange grove and crop, was now not able to raise a dollar. 
Orange land worth $1000 an acre before the freeze was 
now estimated at not more than ten dollars an acre. It 
has been said that northern Florida suffered as much, 
relatively, from this disastrous freeze as Chicago did in 
the great fire. Undoubtedly millions of dollars' worth of 
property had been destroyed. Many people were suddenly 
brought into the greatest straits to make a bare living. 

At Palatka, Florida, fifty miles south of Jacksonville 
on the St. Johns River, was found, before the freeze, one 
of the great centres of orange shipment. Oranges were 



ORANGE GliOVKS IN FLORIDA 83 

hauled in wagon loads, or brought in boat loads into the 
packing houses along the river docks at Palatka, and 
loaded upon steamboats for the northern market. For 
miles around the country was rich in orange groves, 
from ten to forty years old. All along the river also, on 
lands that were not too swampy, were great orange plan- 
tations with fine southern houses and full equipment of 
barns, sheds, and packing houses. These places had their 
private wharves where the crop was loaded upon steamboats. 
The great freeze for the time being annihilated these 
orange groves and it is only in a few cases, and gradually, 
that groves were replanted and developed. 

About three years after the fruit freeze, when many 
people had gotten new orange groves started and were 
looking forward to an early renewal of their profits from 
the orange crop, a second destructive freeze came which 
paralyzed the hopes of the orange men. 

As a result of these heavy misfortunes, many people 
began to turn their attention to other kinds of agriculture, 
gardening, and fruit growing. Orchards of pears and 
peaches were planted, gardens of lettuce, cabbages, celery, 
tomatoes, and other vegetables were cultivated, and straw- 
berries were raised for the home and northern market. 
Some of the swamp lands underlaid with clay when Avell 
fertilized have been found very prolific in potato crops. 
Tens of thousands of bushels of early potatoes are now 
shipped each year to New York and other northern cities 
because Florida can have them ready for market b}^ the 
middle of April, earlier than any other state. Truck 
gardening for the northern market is now quite common 
in Florida. ]\Iany acres are given to tomato fields and 
celery. The pineapple has also been extensively raised, 



84 TYPE STUDIES 

generally in covered pineries and in close connection with 
orange groves. Groves of pecan trees were set out. The 
cultivation of grapes for the manufacture of wine was 
developed. The guava, the persimmon, and other fruits 
of the semi-tropical regions were tried also. 

Many other kinds of business have also been developed, 
such as cattle raising in the swamp-lands and woods; 
regular farming for corn and grain, cotton and tobacco ; 
turpentining in the pine woods; and saw-mills among the 
pine uplands and cypress swamps. 

Besides this the great influx of northern visitors in the 
winter time, witli plenty of money and enterprise, has 
been of great value to the state and a help to its develop- 
ment. Along the coast and on inland rivers and lakes 
have been built many beautiful hotels and health resorts 
where thousands of northern visitors spend their time and 
money during the winter and early spring months. 

Tlie orange business, also, is recovering rapidly from its 
almost complete ruin. The region of orange cultivation 
has extended much farther south, beyond the reach of the 
occasional frosts and cold of the northern part of the state. 
From along the Indian River, on the southeast coast 
during recent winters many excellent oranges have been 
received. At Orlando, a hundred and fifty miles south of 
Jacksonville, the orange groves are looking well and have 
already borne a good crop. From Palatka southward 
there are many promising groves. Along the gulf coast 
below Tampa orange groves are also becoming numerous 
and productive. 

In the more northern and exposed sections of Florida 
the ways devised for protecting young orange trees from 
occasional frosts and harder freezes are interesting. When 



ORANGE GROVES IN FLORIDA 85 

first planted, for three or four years, the sandy soil is 
shovelled up three or four feet high around the young trees 
so as to cover them almost completely. In the spring the 
dirt is taken away. As the trees grow larger, tents are 
placed over them. In many cases a large circular tent, 
made to open and close around a large hoop, with a cap at 
the top, is made to circle each tree w^hen a cold snap 
threatens. On frosty nights in winter the tent is closed, 
a lighted lamp placed within it, and the lower edges 
covered with dirt to close it up more tightly. The weather 
conditions and weather reports are carefully watched and 
full provision is made for sudden cold snaps. As the tree 
grows larger, a still larger tent must be used. Sometimes 
each tree is surrounded with a square boxing of boards 
and lamps are used in a similar manner. 

A grove is also often protected against cold by heaping 
up, at intervals among the trees, small piles of cord-wood, 
which, on an unusually cold night, perhaps two or three 
times in the winter, are fired, and the heat and smoke pro- 
tect the trees from the frost. A grove is often protected 
in this way from a frost that would destroy the cro^:) or 
injure the trees. 

A still more expensive mode of protecting a large 
grove is to surround it with a high stockade or tight 
board fence, twelve or fifteen feet high. A field of ten 
acres is fenced in this way, and by means of tall posts 
arranged in rows across the field a board or canvass cover 
can be slid across so as to completely cover the whole field. 
Such a structure is called an oi'ange shed and costs about 
11000 an acre for its construction. Near I)e Land, Florida, 
one owner has several such sheds covering in all about 
sixty-five acres of well-developed orange groves. 



8'6 TYPE STUDIES 

To keep saeh a grove warm in cold weather, sala- 
manders or sheet-iron stoves, open at the top and full 
of coke, are set at intervals under the shed and fired. 

It has been fortunate for Florida that many wealthy 
people from the north own orange groves in the south. 
They have been willing to spend much money in ex- 
periments in various ways for protecting their groves 
and this has done much to keep up this great industry. 
After their immense losses in tlie two freezes, tlie smaller 
orange farmers in Florida could not afford the money 
for such expensive and doubtful experiments. 

Even under ordinary conditions with good v\^eather 
an orange grove requires much care. The young trees 
secured from an orange nursery must be protected from 
too much heat, the ground kept in a state of cultiva- 
tion, and a rich supj)ly of fertilizer applied each year to 
the roots of the young trees. The trees do not begin 
to bear much until about five years old, and not till 
about ten years are they large enough to bear abun- 
dantly. They are known to continue bearing to the 
age of fifty years. 

The fragrant white blossoms of the orange appear in 
the latter part of February and in Marcli, and soon 
after the little green oranges begin to form. They 
grow during the summer and fall and begin to ripen 
during November, but they remain hanging all winter 
on the trees unless plucked. Accordingly it is not un- 
common to see ripe yellow oranges, young green fruit, 
and blossoms on a treci at tlie same time. 

In order to avoid the winter frosts, the crop now is 
generally picked, in open groves, before Christmas or 
about that time. They are carefully packed in boxes 



ORANGE GROVES IN FLOJilDA 87 

and shipped to iiortliern markets where their superior 
flavor insures them a good price. 

Several varieties of orani^e are cultivated, such as 
russet, navel, king, and the common sorts. 'ili(i tan- 
gerine, tlie gra[>e-fruit, and IIk^ leiiiou 'AUt cultivated 
alongside the oranges in the [jrotected groves. The 
huge pome of tlie grape-fruit lias come into nnich favor 
of late years thougii formerly little regarded. It is 
often as large as a half-gaHon paiL 

In spite of the destructive frosts of a few years ago, 
Florida oranges are now in tlie market, and a steamboat 
trip along the St. Jolnis lli\'(^r will bring into delightful 
view many a beautiful grrn'c along thci winding shores. 
From the shores, also, of the numerous lakes which beautify 
the landscape of Florida, the green, fl(jurishing groves are 
seen. 

(Jne result of the distressing frosts, which is of the 
greatest importance, is the great variety of agricultural 
and other industries which have since sprung up, reveal- 
ing m:iny valuable resources which were formerly little 
developed or thought of. A like disaster can hai'dly 
overtake the state a^ain since there are now so manv 
profitaljle industries which are not afi'ected by the frost. 

On the opposite side of the continent in southwestern 
California is a similar c>range-producing region which is 
the chief competitor of Florida in the mai'kets of the 
Ignited States. 

In recent years, ('aliforuia oranges liave found th<Mr 
way all over the Fjiited States, even into Mcnida. It is 
claimed that Florida oranges are juicier and richer in fla- 
vor, but the California crop because of its abundance and 
reliability has largely secured the market. 



88 TYPE STUDIES 

It is probable that with the rapid southward extension 
of orange culture along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of 
Florida, the quantity of fruit raised will enable her to re- 
gain her place in the orange market. The great extension 
of pineapple culture and that of grape-fruit, together with 
the rapidly growing truck farming in central and south- 
ern Florida and the development of important railroads 
throughout this region are bringing all these products 
into easy relation to the northern and eastern markets. 



THE ILLINOIS RIVER 

Through the central portion of Illinois reaches the 
crooked valley of a river of considerable size. Its head- 
waters are close to Lake Michigan, both on the southeast 
and on the west. The Indians and white men who first 
explored this region, carried their boats across the portage 
at South Bend to the Kankakee, or at Chicago to the 
Des Plaines. The Illinois is five hundred miles long, and 
for two hundred and forty-five miles, or nearly half that 
distance, is regularly used by steamboats for commerce. 
At some seasons it is now possible to launch a canoe in the 
Des Plaines, not far from Chicago, and make a journey b}' 
water to the mouth of the Illinois. But while the general 
slope of the country is the same now as then, while tlie 
same hills and bluffs are seen along the streams, every- 
thing else appears greatly changed since the days of Mar- 
quette and La Salle. The valley of the Des Plaines, a 
mile wide in places, is bordered with low hills, and as we 
move south toward Joliet, shows some curious siglits. 
Along the east side canal-boats are seen gliding by, loaded 
with stone or grain, coal or lumber. Sometimes the boats 
are drawn by mules, and again a little steam-engine is 
seen puffing in one end of the boat. From time to time 
the canal widens, and several canal-boats are seen lying at 
anchor just above a lock, through which the boats are let 
down to a lower level, if they are passing toward Joliet ; 
but they may be as easily raised if the boat is headed for 
Chicago. The lock consists of heavy side walls of ma- 

81) 



90 TYPE STUDIES 

sonry, with stout, double doors or gates at each end. The 
boat is let into the lock by opening the doors at one end. 
If it is headed down the canal the lower gates are then 
opened, or partly so, till the water glides out, leaving the 
water-level in the lock the same as in the canal below. 
The water in the canal flows steadily from Chicago River 
toward Joliet, carrying much of the sewage of the city 
into the Illinois. Chicago River has been deepened by dig- 
ging and dredging. As the upper end of the canal is still 
lower than the level of the river, the water flows from the 
river into the canal and thus draws a current from Lake 
Michigan. At the present time we may see where the 
work has been completed of excavating a much deeper and 
wider canal, which may serve as a means of drainage and 
of water-power to the city of Chicago. The machines 
employed and the great heaps of earth and rock thrown 
out show how great this undertaking has been. In many 
places this new drainage canal is excavated through solid 
rock thirty feet deep and 160 feet wide at the bottom. 
The whole cost is estimated at. 121,000,000. We soon 
discover that the old canal, as well as the new one, is dug 
for a long distance in the solid rock, which here lies close 
to the surface. In fact, for fifteen or twenty miles north 
of Joliet, the whole eastern side of the valley seems to be 
one long row of rock quarries, where the limestone strata, 
lying in regular layers, are quarried and blasted out, 
sawed, and placed upon canal-boats or railroad cars, to be 
shipped to Chicago, where vast quantities are needed for 
the foundations of buildings. The Chicago and Alton 
Railroad also runs along this valley with the low hills 
and quarries on one side and the canal and river on the 
other. The Chicago and Rock Island Road passes along 



THE ILLINOIS BIVER 91 

the same valley. Just before reaching Joliet, our atten- 
tion is attracted by a large stone structure, which has the 
appearance of a grand old castle, with high walls and 
towers on the corners. It is the state penitentiary, where 
hundreds of criminals are kept, and the rock quarries 
not only furnish materials for its construction but also 
labor to many of the convicts, who are employed in the 
quarries. 

At Joliet we may see great steel works, blast furnaces, 
and mills, and at this place the canal is carried across the 
river by means of a dam, which raises the water to the 
level of the canal, so as to let the canal-boats cross. From 
this place the canal follows the north bank of the Des 
Plaines and of the Illinois, till at Peru it enters the river. 
About fifteen or tw^enty miles southwest of Joliet the Des 
Plaines joins the Illinois River, which is formed by the 
union of the Kankakee and Des Plaines. 

At most of the large towns upon the Kankakee and 
upon the Des Plaines we shall find dams in the river 
which are used to supply water-power to mills and fac- 
tories, as at Wilmington, Kankakee, and Joliet. The Fox 
River, also, wdiich joins the Illinois from the north, has 
several large towns like Aurora and Elgin which have 
good water-power. These smaller streams, therefore, 
Avhile they are not large enougli for steamboats, are still 
of much service both for drainage and for water-power. 

From the point where the two rivers unite to form the 
Illinois, the latter becomes an interesting river. The 
bluffs are high in places and partly wooded. The valley 
is broad and the river winds in many curves through the 
great trough which has been cut down into the level 
prairies by the floods of water that have swept through 



92 TYPE STUDIES 

this clianiiel in past ages. Geologists tell us that the 
waters of Lake Michigan once found their outlet to the 
Mississippi through the great trough of the Illinois Valley. 
The old channel connecting the lake with the river has 
been found south of Chicago, but was choked up and filled 
long ago by gravel and drift. 

As our boat glides along the current between the 
wooded bluffs toward La Salle, a number of interesting 
spots are passed. At Ottawa the Fox River comes in 
from the north, and over it the canal is carried on a 
stone bridge or aqueduct. It looks much like a stone 
railroad bridge with great, heavy arches to support the 
weight of water passing through the canal. All the 
streams that come down to the Illinois from the north 
pass under the canal in this way. The canal, of course, 
follows the level valley between the river and the bluffs. 
A railroad, the Rock Island, follows the same valley close 
to the canal and river. This broad valley is very favor- 
able to commerce both by water and by rail. Swift- 
moving railroad trains and slow-moving canal-boats add 
much to the life of this region. Near Utica, on the north 
side of the river, is the wide meadow where the great vil- 
lage of the Illinois Indians once stood, and near which 
Tonty tried to prevent a battle between the Iroquois and 
Illinois tribes. On the south side is the steep front of 
Starved Rock, on the top of which Tonty built Fort St. 
Louis. Afterward, according to tradition, the last of the 
Illinois were starved to death on the summit of this bluff. 
At its base flows the Illinois River, at the rear is a steep 
ascent, and tlie broad valley, seen from its top, with the 
winding current, is very picturesque. On the north side 
of the river is Buffalo Rock, also famous history. 




CO CO, 



ph! 



THE ILLINOIS RIVER 93 

A little west of Starved Rock the VcnMiiilioii River 
enters tlie Illinois Valley from the south, itself coming 
tlirough a deep, narrow valley, aloiiL;' whit^h is found some 
pictnresque scenery. Deer J^lrk, which o|)ens into this 
stream, is a narrow, I'ocky canon, with steep sides sixty 
feet high, whicli are tliic-k with woods, so that the narrow 
gorge is cool and sliady even on hot summer days. At 
the upper end of the winding canon is a semicnrch^ of stee[) 
rock, over which a little stream tumblers and tlien flows 
down tlirougli the canon. Deer Park is only a few mil(;s 
from Starved Jiock, and tliis whole region is interesting 
to the tourist. 

Just before reaching I^a Salle, our boat passes under tlie 
high bridge of the Illinois Central Raili'oad. At La Salle 
are great zinc works, wliich can be seen from the river. 
At Peru, a few miles to the west, the Illinois and Michi- 
gan Canal enters the river, after a journey of ninety- 
eight miles from Chicago. From this point on the river 
is deep enough for (^anal-boats and small steamers. 

We may now abandon our canoe and take up comfort- 
able quarters on a steamboat for the rest of tlie journey. 
Above this the river is too shallow for steamers in sunnuer 
time. In fact, a dam in tlie river at Henry, twenty miles 
below Peru, raises the water six or eight feet and deepens 
the current twenty miles u])-stream as far as Peru. On 
the west side of the dam at ircnry is a lock, which enables 
boats to pass by the dam. The dam and locdv at Henry, 
by means of which the water is deepened above and boats 
allowed to pass through, belong to what is called the 
system of slack- water navigation.^ 

^ The new Drainaue Canal has so much iiu^i-cased the (luantity of 
water in the Illinois River that the dams at Henry and l)elo\v are not 
now so much needed as formerly. 



94 TYPE STUDIES 

Between Peru and Henry the Illinois River makes a 
grand sweep to the south. The valley is very broad, two 
or three miles in places, and the bluffs sometimes two hun- 
dred feet high. The road leading from the prairies to the 
valley below foUow^s some ravine, and must descend a long, 
steep hill before reaching the bottom-lands. The bottom- 
lands are often low and marshy, sometimes covered with 
swamp-growing trees. Some of the bottom-lands are 
above the water-level and make rich corn-fields. The soil 
in many of these bottoms is very deep and rich (sometimes 
fifty feet), and very heavy crops are raised. But in wet 
seasons the crop may be wholly destroyed by the floods. 
Among the bottom-lands are found shallow bayous and 
lakes, which are ancient channels of the river, now cut off 
and partly filled up. In the season of duck hunting, thou- 
sands of wild duck feed among the swamps and bayous, and 
the sound of the sportsman's gun may be heard at all hours 
of the day echoing between distant bluffs of the valley. 

Below Henry the river winds through a broad valley 
with lower and more sloping bluffs. After passing a 
number of wooded islands below Lacon, the river widens 
into a long, shallow lake which reaches to Peoria. Peo- 
ria, which is near the site of the old Indian village, lies 
upon a sloping plain which rises gradually a mile back 
from the river to the foot of high, wooded bluffs. The 
big breweries, distilleries, and glucose factories, for which 
Peoria is noted, lie mostly near the bank of the river. 
The best lousiness streets are a few blocks back from the 
river and higher up on the slope, and many of the finer 
residences have been lately built along the upper edge of 
tlie bluffs and overlooking the valley and lake for miles. 

Just below Peoria an important railroad bridge spans the 



TIIK ILLINOIS RIVER . 95 

river, and at several other towns below there are railroad 
bridges, as at Pekin, Havana, and two or three smaller 
places. Below Pekin the railroads do not follow the val- 
ley, bnt cross it. The lower part of the river is chiefly 
important as a navigable stream connecting tlie Mississip[)i 
with the canal and Lake Michigan. Steamboats regularly 
pass from St. Louis to Peoria and Peru, and the towns on 
the river furnish a good market for grain, which is sent 
to Peoria and Chicago. The Spoon River, from the west, 
and tlie Sangamon, from the east, are the chief branches, 
of the lower Illinois, draining rich prairie lands which are 
among the best-settled portions of the state. Springfield, 
near the Sangamon, is noted as the home of Lincoln, as 
the capital of the state, and as a beautifid city. 

The lower valley of the Illinois liiver is pretty heavily 
timbered. For thirty miles before joining the Mississippi 
it flows parallel to that stream, separated only by a narrow 
ridi^-e a few miles across. About fourteen miles above 
Alton it joins the great current of the Mississippi, here 
about a mile wide, and rolls on a few miles farther to 
mingle with the yellow waters of the Missouri. 

The Illinois River is an important connecting link be- 
tween the waters of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi 
River. The canal makes this connection complete, and 
the low, narrow watershed between Lake Michigan and 
the Des Plaines renders this artificial waterway easy. 
When a ship-canal is finished between Chicago and the 
Mississippi, large vessels may be able to sail up the St. 
Lawrence and down the Mississippi, making Chicago a 
harbor that can be approached from the sea on either side. 
In winter time the river and canal are fro/en iq) ajid navi- 
gation is stopped for some four or five months. 



96 TYPE STUDIES 

The Illinois is useful not only for drainage, to remove 
surplus waters, for water-power in mills and factories, for 
commerce, and as a means of connection between larger 
waters, but also for fishing which is carried on to quite an 
extent near the river towns. 

The great irregular valley of the Mississippi is a still 
wider trough toward which the Illinois and other 
streams send their winding w^aters. A closer study of 
the rivers of Illinois will show that they all move in 
the same general direction. Tlie Rock, the Illinois, the 
Kaskaskia, the Big ]\Iuddy, and the Wabash, all move in 
the same general course and all mingle their waters finally 
as they pass Cairo. Each of the smaller rivers has its 
secondary slopes, but the general slope of the whole sta£e, 
with slight exception at Chicago, is toward the southwest. 
(It is certainly advisable at this point to make a sand map 
of Illinois, laying out the valleys, slopes, cities, canals, etc. 
If there is loose soil in the playground, it may be made 
on a large scale and to good advantage in the open air. 
It is well also for the children to draw upon the blackboard 
quickly an outline map of Illinois, aiming chiefly at correct 
proportion in the parts.) 

If we now turn to a large physical wall map of the 
United States, it will supply a useful lesson at map inter- 
pretation to examine tlie neighboring states, such as 
Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, and Minnesota, to 
hunt up the principal rivers, determine their slopes, com- 
l)are them in size with the Illinois River, and fix tlieir 
names, together with tliose of the states through which 
they flow. Sucli an examination will reveal several states 
that have a river of tlie same name, dividing it into nearly 
equal portions, as Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Min- 



THE ILLINOIS RIVER 



97 



nesota. Then the Wabash in Indiana, the Des Moines in 
Iowa, the Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas, bear a 
relation to their respective states simihir to that in Illinois. 
This examination and comparison of rivers will lead to a 
perception of the chief slopes of tlie jNlississippi Valley on 
a large scale. In 
fact, we can afford 
to carry this compari- 
son a little further. 
The Illinois and 
Michigan Canal, con- 
necting Lake Michi- 
gan with the Illinois 
River, is similar to a 
canal at the portage 
of the Wisconsin and 
Fox. In Indiana, the 
Wabash and Mau- 
mee ; in Oliio, the 
Miami, Scioto, and 
Muskingum, are all 
connected with Lake 
Erie by canal. These 
are the artificial water 
connections between 
the Mississippi and 
the St. Lawrence system. Like the Illinois, the lower 
waters of streams such as tlie Wisconsin, Des iNIoines, 
and Scioto, are navigable, while their upper valleys are the 
favored courses of canals and useful for water-power and 
manufacturing. The fulness and detail witli wliich the 
upper and lower Illinois have been described is justified 




ILLINOIS RIVER 

AMD 

ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN 
CANAL 



Fig. 35. 



98 TYPE STUDIES 

because the canal with its locks, the dams and water- 
wheels, the cities, bridges, and steamboats, the bluffs, 
bayous, and bottom-lands of the one interpret those of 
all the others. In several ways the Illinois River becomes 
a standard of comparison by which we measure other 
streams, and more quickly understand their size and im- 
portance. In our later study of rivers in other parts of 
the United States and of the world, we shall have frequent 
occasion to revert to the home stream as a representative 
and standard to illustrate slack-water navigation, bluff 
scenery, water-power, steamboat traffic and drainage, 
slope, and the erosive power of waters. In comparing 
the rivers of the surrounding states with the Illinois, we 
definitely locate these states and the rivers that drain them, 
fixing the names by such drill exercises as may be neces- 
sary. The power to interpret the surface features as 
indicated by a map should certainly be gained in this 
exercise. 



THE PRAIRIES 

Illinois has been called the " prairie" state, although 
other states, like Iowa, are perhaps still better deserving 
of the name. When the white men first explored this 
state they followed the rivers in canoes, and as the bluffs, 
bottom-Lands, and ravines near the streams were covered 
largely with forests, it seemed to them much lil^e a wooded 
country. But when they climbed the bluffs to hunt the 
herds of deer and buffalo, tliey saw great stretches of 
beautiful rolling or level lands, treeless for miles, and cov- 
ered in summer with a rich wild grass and bright with thou- 
sands of Avild flowers. These waving prairies were the 
favorite hunting-grounds of the Indians and were grazed 
upon by herds of buffalo and deer. The prairies wei'e dot- 
ted over with ponds, which, in their season, were covered 
with Avild geese and ducks. The prairie-cliicken, Avild 
turkey, and other smaller game were also abundant. In the 
strips of timber, bear, wildcat, and squirrel were hunted. 
The Indians depended for food largely upon their regular 
liunting seasons and the early Avhite explorers and settlers 
supplied themselves in the same way. Many old settlers 
are still living in Illinois who have seen the deer quite 
abundant on the prairies of our state. 

This prairie region, tliougli beautiful and attractive as a 
hunting-ground, was not deemed of much value by the earlj^ 
settlers. The prairie often extended for ten or twenty 
miles between the strips of timber. 

The prairie wliich lies nortli and east of rdoomington, 

99 



Lofi 



100 TYPi: STUDIES 

Illinois, is a good type of these treeless plains. Blooming- 
ton was built on the edge of a strip of timber along Sugar 
Creek. To the north the rolling prairie extended nine or ten 
miles to Hudson, where another strip of woods is met. A 
line of woods about six miles west of Bloomington forms the 
western limit of this prairie. Near Towanda, about nine 
miles northeast of Bloomington, the woods again limit the 
prairies on that side. The main body of this prairie, then, 
is about nine miles by twelve and is a rolling country of 
great beauty and richness. In the summer time the wild 
grass grew to the height of a foot or a foot and a half, 
and, before the prairies were broken by the plough, was 
often mowed and the hay preserved. In the fall when the 
grass was dry and some hunting party had set fire to it, the 
flames would sweep across the prairies with a great roar 
and cloud of smoke, which proved fatal to animals and 
men in their track. 

The early settlers of Illinois built their log houses near 
the streams in the strips of timber that bordered them. 
The wooded parts of the state are along the valleys of the 
rivers and smaller streams. Oak, hickory, walnut, maple, 
and other hard-wood trees form quite extensive forests along 
the rough or hilly country that lies close to the river val- 
leys. These woods furnished the early settlers with mate- 
rials for building houses, fences, barns, and for wagons and 
other farm tools. The woods also supplied an abundance 
of cheap fuel, while game was hunted among the groves. 
In fact, for many years in the early settlement of Illinois 
the forest districts were much more valuable and useful 
tlian the prairies. 

In those early days of our grandfathers there were few 
wagon roads, to say nothing of railroads. Many of the 



THE PRAIRIES 101 

early settlers from the east came by water, some by way 
of Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan to Chicago, and some 
by way of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Illinois rivers. They 
loaded their household goods on flatboats or steamboats 
at Pittsburg, passed slowly down that river to its mouth, 
and then up the Mississippi and Illinois to Peoria, or some 
other river town, from which they secured teams to carry 
their goods across the country to the place of settlement. 

The first white men paid little attention to the prairies. 
These broad, waving meadows, extending often for many 
miles, were not much used, except for hunting and pasture. 
But the prairie lands bordering the timber were often 
turned into fields for corn, potatoes, etc. One reason why 
the prairies were not used at first was the fact that not 
much grain was raised for shipment. There were no 
roads or good markets for grain, and the farmers only 
raised what they needed for family use or for feeding 
their stock. 

But the soil of the prairies was much deeper and riclier 
than that in the wooded regions, and the farmers learned 
in time that it was profitable to break up the prairies with 
the plough and raise grain, instead of cutting down trees, 
grubbing out stumps, and clearing the land for fields 
among the forests. 

The farmers, however, who began to settle upon the 
prairies had a hard struggle to convert them into good 
farms. The soil of the prairie had never been turned by 
the plough. It was matted with roots, and tough and hard 
to break or turn. Two or three yokes of oxen hitched to a 
single plough were necessary to break up this old sod before 
the first effort at planting and cultivating could be made. 
The first season not much was raised, as the sod and 



102 TYPE STUDIES 

matted roots must rot before a good soil was formed. 
But with the second year's ploughing the soil was rich and 
yellow, and yielded abundant crops. It was necessary, 
also, to build houses, barns, fences, find springs or wells, 
plant orchards and small fruit, secure stock and simple 
farm tools and machines. For many years the timber 
used was cut and brought from the neighboring woods, or 
it had to be hauled from the mills, across the prairies. 

In those early days the prairie fires were a cause of 
danger to the farmers. Most of the prairie, of course, was 
unsettled, and when fires once started across them in 
autumn, feeding on the thick, dry grass, with a brisk 
wind, the farmer on the prairie was in danger of losing 
houses, stacks, and stables — in fact, everything which he 
had worked so long and hard to secure. Various devices 
were used by the farmers to prevent such losses. In the 
fall, when the grain had been stacked, he would burn 
away the grass around the stacks and farm-yards, so that 
the autumn fires could not come near the stables, stacks, 
and houses, or he would plough up a circle of ground 
about the stacks and stables for the same purpose. Some- 
times, when the prairie fires came unexpectedly upon 
farmers who were unprepared, there were exciting efforts 
to beat out the fire and save the houses and grain. 

Nearly every farmer who settled upon the prairies 
desired to surround his farm-house with groves and 
orchards. Groves of cottonwood, maple, walnut, willow 
and orchards of apple, clierry, and plum were planted. 
Gardens, with small fruit, were started, large fields and 
pastures fenced, regular roads were laid out, and bridges 
built; in fact, so many changes were made in the whole 
appearance of the country that the Indians would scarcely 



THE PRAIIUES 103 

recognize their old liuntiiig-grounds if they could return 
to them. Standing upon some high point or knoll 
on the prairies, where the eye can travel many miles in 
any direction, instead of a waving sea of grass, one now 
sees great rustling fields of corn, green meadows, yellow 
fields of oats and wheat as they ripen in tlie summer tide, 
the whole country dotted with groves and orchards, 
almost hiding the farm-houses and barns, and tall windmills 
towering above the tree-tops busily pumping water for 
the cattle or grinding grain. In a distant village are seen 
the church spires, the tall grain elevators, and a railroad 
train, moving across the country, is carrying the produce 
of the prairies to distant regions. 

The demand for trees for transplanting in groves and 
orchards upon the prairies has been so great that large 
nurseries are found in many parts of the state, where 
thousands of seedlings are raised, and fruit trees grafted and 
grown for sliipping and for transplanting. Evergreens, 
maples, fruit trees, grape-vines, berry plants, rose bushes, 
hedge plants, and many other ornamental and useful trees 
and plants have been abundantly supplied to the farms and 
gardens of the prairie regions. The nursery business is 
still a very important and extensive occupation in Illinois 
and other prairie states. 

Many explanations have been attempted touching the 
cause of the treeless condition of these extensive plains 
in Illinois and in the neighboring states. One reason 
assigned is that the rainfall is less in the prairie belt than 
in tlie forest country farther east. Then tlie prairie fires 
which were accustomed to sweep the dry, grassy plains 
destroj^ed largely the young tree plants. A third reason 
offered is that the black, close soil of the prairies is not 



104 TYPE STUniES 

favorable in a natural state to the sprouting of young 
trees, but in the hilly slopes near the streams where a clay 
and sandy soil prevails forests are common. It is sup- 
posed by some that the prairies were originally wholly 
covered with shallow ponds and lakes, and as the water 
gradually drained off through the sloughs, the marshy 
edges of these ponds and lakes were unfavorable to the 
growth of trees. Whatever the causes may have been, 
extensive plains in this region remained Avith no vegetable 
covering but rich grasses and wild flowers. 

The soil of the prairies is, in most places, a rich, black 
mould from one to two feet in depth, and produced by the 
decay of vegetable growth. Sometimes it is possible to 
plough for miles without touching sand or gravel. In spite 
of heavy crops the soil keeps its strength and by deeper 
subsoil ploughing, and by proper rotation of crops, it 
continues to yield abundantly. The rainfalls are also so 
regular that a total failure of crops has not been known in 
the sixty years of settlement, although some seasons are too 
dry and others too wet for good agriculture. It would be 
difficult, however, to find a country with a richer soil, or 
a more regular succession of good harvests. 

Many low places among the plains were once covered 
with ponds, sloughs, and extensive marshes, sometimes ex- 
tending over thousands of acres where only a coarse, rank 
slough grass grew. These wet places could not be tilled 
and were of but little use. But as the prairie lands were 
settled up and converted into farms, the ponds were 
drained by open ditches or tiles which were used to draw 
off the sluggish waters. Some of these marshy lands 
cover whole townships, while the ponds and lower places on 
nearly every farm are benefited by tile drains. By means 



THE PRAIRIES 105 

of this system of artificial drainage, the swamp-land has 
been brought under cultivation, and these are found to be 
the richest and most productive districts of the state. 

The business of ditching and draining the prairies 
has been, therefore, an important part of the growth of 
the state. Ditching machines have been extensively- 
used. The manufacture of tile for drainage has been 
carried on upon a large scale. The big round kilns 
used for burning the clay, and the great stacks of red 
and dark tiles of different sizes, are frequently seen in 
the towns of the prairie region along the railroad lines. 

One serious difficulty, common to all the prairie re- 
gions of Illinois, is the '' bottomless roads " during a 
good share of the winter and spring seasons. The rich, 
sticky soil of the prairies holds moisture only too well, 
and during two or three months of the year the high- 
Avays are almost impassable with loads. Ditching the 
roads along the sides and throwing up the dirt in the 
centre does not remove this difficult}", and there is so 
little gravel or other material suitable for road building 
that, as yet, no great improvement has been made. 

After 1850, railroads began to be built across the prai- 
ries, bringing pine lumber and other materials to the 
farmers from Chicago and the lake regions, and making 
it possible to ship corn, wheat, cattle, and hogs to Chicago 
and other cities. Coal-mines were also opened, and coal 
was much used upon the prairies instead of wood. Before 
the days of railroads, it was very difficult for the prairie 
farmers to get their grain and live stock to market. 
They sometimes hauled wheat and salted meat a hundred 
miles to market in wagons. Since 1850, therefore, the 
settlement of the prairies has been very rapid. Even as 



106 TYPE STUDIES 

late as 1870, however, there were many prairies in Illinois 
that were unfenced and still covered witli wdld grass, upon 
which any one could freely drive his herds. But since 
then most of the prairie districts have been fenced and 
ploughed, and are now yielding large crops of grain or 
serving as pasturage. 

The description we have given of the prairies of Illi- 
nois will answer, also, for most of the prairie states. 
Northern Missouri, the whole of Iowa, and southern 
Minnesota are very much like the prairie lands of Illi- 
nois. The eastern half of Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, 
also, belong to the prairie belt, and are corn, grain, and 
stock producing regions like Illinois. The northern part 
of Indiana and the southern part of Wisconsin show ex- 
tensive prairies. There is no fixed line between these 
prairies and the arid plains of the west in Dakota, Kan- 
sas, and Nebraska. The one hundredth meridian may be 
taken as the line that separates the region of sufficient 
rainfall on the east from the arid plains on the west. 
West of the Mississippi, therefore, the prairies have a 
gentle slope upward till they are gradually changed into 
the grazing and ranch lands of western Kansas and Ne- 
braska, where there is not enough rainfall with which to 
raise crops. 

Before leaving the prairie region it is advisable to 
locate the cliief rivers which drain the prairie belt, the 
direction of their slopes, the states and parts of states 
included, and perliaps a few of the chief cities or trade 
centres which lie within this district. It will be of inter- 
est, also, to notice how far the coal area, studied in the 
preceding topic, lies witliin the prairie belt, and to what 
extent the use of coal on the jjrairies is rendered easy. 



THE PRAIRIES 107 

The definite location of the prairie states on a wall map, 
and the drawing of the states in outline will aid the fixing 
of these facts. 

We shall find later, in discussing corn and live stock, 
lumbering, pine- and hard-wood forests, that much addi- 
tional light will be thrown upon the prairie country, and 
the comparison of it with the forested regions will help to 
give a much more definite knowledge of the surface, com- 
merce, and productions of tliose parts of our country. 



THE PINERIES AND LUMBERING 

In northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, where the for- 
ests of white pine abound, the short, cold days of winter 
are the busiest season of the year. The ground is usually 
covered with deep snow which contrasts with the dark 
green of the forests. But the branches are often loaded 
with snow and ice so that Jack Frost is monarch of all. 
In the autumn, every large lumber firm which has pine 
lands in this region prepares to make up a company of 
lumbermen to send into the forests to cut down and pre- 
pare the logs for the springtime. The foreman of the 
lumber company scours the river towns, hiring men for 
the winter campaign. As soon as they have spent all 
their earnings in the boarding-houses and hotels, the men 
are ready to pack up for the logging camp. Sixty men 
make up a logging camp of average size. Such a camp is 
located in the midst of the woods, near the bank of some 
stream, which, when the melting snows and rains of spring 
come, can float down to the far-away mills the great piles 
of logs which the men have collected upon its banks dur- 
ing the winter season. 

We will describe such a lumber camp on a branch of the 
Upper Mississippi above Minneapolis. (See Scribners 
Magazine, 1893.) 

The camp consists of several buildings " made of round 
logs and roofed and floored, generally, with rough boards. 
There is a men's camp, where the men lounge and sleep; 

108 



THE PlNFAilES AND LUMBERING 



109 



a cook-camp, wliicli is a large dining room and kitchen 
combined, and a large barn where the hay is stored for the 




Fig. 36. 

A group of small pictures to illustrate lumbering. A and B show logging 
camps ; in I) logs are being drawn to the frozen stream : E and F are pic- 
tures of two log jams ; and C shows a vessel loading lumber from the j)iles 
of boards on the wharf near the sawmill. 

horses and mules ; a granary, a blacksmitirs shop, and an 
office for the foreman, with an extra bed for the proprietor. 



110 TYPE STUDIES 

The men's camp for sixty men and the cook's camp are 
each about sixty by twenty feet. The men sleep in rough 
wooden bunks, ranged in double tiers along the sides of 
the camp. Formerly they lay on boughs or on hay with 
a single blanket spread over it, but in these days they have 
their bedticks stuffed with hay or straw." A big fireplace 
used to add cheerfulness to the great barnlike room, but 
now^ large stoves are used. 

There is much work to be done about the camp, in the 
woods, and along the tiver, before the actual work of 
felling the trees and hauling the logs begins. A gang of 
men is sent along the river for many miles to clear it of 
snags. It is a heavy piece of work, wading into the icy 
waters, loosening the stumps and logs and dragging them 
out with horses. The men camp on the banks at night 
and wade the streams and labor during the day for weeks 
at a time. But at last the river is clear for the spring 
freshet. Early in the fall, road-makers are sent out to the 
lumber camp to lay out and prepare smooth, well-graded 
roads along which the heavy sledges, with horses, may 
safely haul the great loads of logs to the banking grounds 
along the river. The making of these roads is a very care- 
ful piece of business. ^' Along the lines which have been 
carefully laid out, the road-makers fell the timber, cutting 
it at the roots so that no stumps remain, log out the road 
^ at its proper width, and then, with plough and scraper, 
mattock and shovel, make it nearly as level and quite as 
solid as a railroad grade. The road-bed is sunk a little 
below the level. It is ploughed out after each snow-storm 
with great snow-plouglis, and sprinklers are run during 
freezing weather, making a solid bed of ice over which 
enormous loads can be hauled." The log sleighs are from 



THE PINERIES AND LUMBERING 111 

ten to fourteen feet wide on the cross-beams, and one or 
two teams are hitched to them. Of course, before begin- 
ning the winter's work, a hirge supply of food and mate- 
rials must be hauled to the camp. Hay and grain for the 
Jiorses, tools, sleds, blacksmith's materials, besides food, 
clothing, and medicines for the men are provided. 

When finally the winter's work begins in earnest, a log- 
ging camp is a busy place. Squads of men are sent out to 
fell the trees ; the teamsters are up early to feed and groom 
their horses, so as to haul' as many huge loads as possible 
to the river bank ; the cook and his lielpers are busy 
almost day and night, preparing and cooking food for the 
hungry men. The blacksmith is shoeing horses and re- 
pairing sleighs and tools. The foreman keeps track of all 
the men, their time and amount of work, and must see 
tliat every man earns his wages. 

The men are out early at the trees, working in pairs or 
groups, and engaged in a generous rivalry to see who can 
bring down the most trees and logs. The trees are now 
generally sawed down instead of cut with the axe. By 
driving a wedge into the saw-cut, a tree can be thrown 
into any desired direction. When tlie tree is down, it is 
divided off into standard lengths and sawed up. Then the 
logs are ready to be taken to the skids. '^ The skid- way 
consists of two logs about ten feet apart, laid perpendicular 
to tlie log road and well blocked up, upon which a tier of 
logs is placed ready to be loaded on the sleighs to go to 
the banking ground." To get the logs to tlie skid-way, 
cattle were once much used, but now horses. Sometimes 
tlie logs are " snaked " along, being held at the end by a 
grappling hook called '' skidding tongs" ; but the big logs 
are dragged by a team, with a rude sled for one end of the 



112 TYPE STUDIES 

log to rest upon. From the skids, where the logs have 
been piled up by the loaders into lofty tiers, thej^ are rolled 
on to the sleighs. '' When it comes to loading these logs 
on the sleighs, judgment and strength and skill are equally 
required, the object being to get as large a load as 
possible." The logs have to be well balanced and firmly 
laid, or they slip and slide back. Sometimes the load is 
piled up as high as a load of hay, and contains many tons 
of logs. The teamsters then drive carefully along the 
smooth road. They pass men whose business it is to watch 
the road, fill up low places, smooth the track, and thus 
prevent the sleighs from sliding out or toppling over. At 
the banking grounds, again, great skill and strength are 
needed in piling the logs on the edge of the stream, where 
they may easily roll into the water in the spring. 

Deep and lasting snows are of great importance to the 
lumbermen. In some winters, when there is little snow 
but much rain and slush, the skids are full of logs, but the 
sleighs cannot run. Many thousands of dollars' worth of 
logs may be piled up, but cannot be brought to the stream. 
If the weather is cold, the sprinklers are set at work and 
an ice road is made, over which the loads will glide. In 
many cases railroads have been built into the logging 
regions and the logs hauled out by steam power to the 
banking grounds. The snow, then, is of great value to 
the lumbermen both for skidding and hauling the logs and 
for melting in springtime so as to flood the stream and 
carry off the logs. 

In the evening, after the hard day's work, the camp is 
a lively scene. The luird-worked men have a hearty rel- 
ish for substantial food, and they get it in abundance. ''At 
dinner there is a hearty bean or vegetable soup, and gener- 



THE PINERIES AND LUMBERING 



113 



ally fresh beef. ¥ov every meal there are pork and beans, 
corned beef, potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and sauer-kraut, 
plenty of sugar, tea, coffee, molasses, gingerbread, dried 
apple pie, mince pies from mince-meat bought by tlie half 
ton, sauce, and butter. With sixty men, a barrel of flour 
must be converted into bread in about two days. After 
supper there is rest and entertainment. Along each side 
of the camp is a seat made of a thick, hewn slab, for which 
the bunk frames furnish a back. When evening comes. 




Fig. 37. 
Floating lumber on a stream in Wisconsin. 

ranged along this seat, or lounging in the bunks, the crew 
of men become a social club. Then jokes and tales go 
round and songs are sung, and if there is a fiddler in the 
camp dancing begins." But the men must soon get to bed 
so as to be up betimes for tlie morning's work. 

There are many dangers and accidents, and the reckless 
boldness of the men in handling logs leads to broken 
limbs and mangled bodies. In piling the logs on the skids 
and at tlie banking grounds there is special skill and 
strength needed to prevent serious accidents, but the 
men are generous in helping an injured comrade. 

With the melting of the snow and ice in spring comes 



114 TYPE STUDIES 

the breaking in and driving the logs. The banking ground 
swarms with men armed with cant-liooks, furnished with 
strong pikes in the end, who attack the great tiers of logs 
as they lay piled on the landing. Teams hitched to lines, 
at the end of which is a hook similar to a cant-hook, are 
used to loosen the " key log." This hook is driven firmly 
into a log at the foot of the roUway, and as it is pulled 
out the whole face of the roUway topples forward into the 
stream. This must be repeated again and again. Some- 
times while men and horses are tugging to loose the log it 
suddenly gives way, and down thunders the towering mass 
of logs. The men jump for safety to the sides, they clamber 
and keep atop of the plunging logs, they jump for safety 
into the surging stream, coming out generally unhurt. 

As soon as the logs are set afloat, two crews of men are 
sent out to drive the logs down the stream to the boom, 
where they are collected and sorted. The forward crew 
is called the " jam crew," whose business it is to string the 
logs along the river so as not to let them pile up together 
and get wedged in the stream. Sometimes the body of logs 
lodges in a narrow passage or bend of the river, or upon 
some snag or sunken tree-top, and the logs must be loos- 
ened and again set afloat. A great log jam, however, is 
sometimes formed which extends for miles up the river. 
The force of the current piles up the logs in great heaps, 
with tree trunks projecting in every direction. To break 
such a jam and send the loosened logs floating down 
the stream is difficult and dangerous. A rear crew fol- 
lows to gatlier up the stray logs that have become stranded 
along the banks and baj'-ous when tlie water was high. 
With cant-hooks the crew of men roll the logs into tlie 
stream. Many logs are tlius left liigli and dry on sand- 



THE PINERIES AND LUMBERING 



115 



bars and in the bayous by sudden floods and changes in 
the water. These must all be rolled down to the stream 
and set afloat. The heavy butt logs drag in the low water 
and must be helped over shallow places. The men wade 
into the chill waters, ride the logs over the rapids, and 
are wet from head to foot most of the time. But they get 
double wages for this arduous work and exposure. 

At length the logs from different companies are col- 
lected, many acres of them floating along the bayous and 




Fig. P>8. 
A sawmill in Wisconsin. 

river banks, above the boom. The logs of each company 
are marked with certain letters, and so squads of men 
from tlie different companies are set to work to collect tlie 
logs of each company by tliemselves and f(n'm large rafts, 
which are tlien sent down the river witli rafting steamers to 
the sawmills. Sometimes three or four hundred men are 
employed at a boom collecting and arranging the logs for 
many different companies. 

The saw^mills lower down the stream are kept very busy 



116 TYPE STUDIES 

in summer and fall, sawing up the logs and stacking the 
lumber. Many of the lumbermen work in the mills in 
the summer and in the logging camps in the winter. The 
macliinery of the mills at Minneapolis was formerly run 
by the water-power of the falls, but now most of the large 
sawmills are above the falls and are supplied with steam- 
engines. The sawdust from the mills is the only fuel used 
and much more is produced than is needed in the furnaces. 
The mill stands on the river bank and a great raft of logs lies 
floating in the water below, from which they are drawn up 
singly into the mill by means of an endless chain with hooks. 
A hundred men may be employed in a single mill and the 
circular and band saws, and especially the gang saws, turn 
out great batches of lumber in rapid succession. 

Above the falls at Minneapolis are many of these large 
mills Avith extensive lumber-yards, where vast quantities 
of lumber are stacked, while in the waters of the river are 
great rafts of logs waiting for the saws. In the same 
yard with the sawmill is often found a planing-mill, 
where the rough lumber is planed and worked up into 
window-frames, casings, doors, and other finishing lumber. 

Most of the logs of the Upper Mississippi are worked 
up in the sawmills at Minneapolis. Quite a number of 
the stray logs go over the falls and are received by mills in 
the cities lower down the river. Minneapolis is therefore 
a very important centre for the manufacture and shipment 
of pine lumber. The great prairies of western Minne- 
sota and Dakota call for immense quantities of pine lum- 
ber for use in house building, for barns, bridges, fencing, 
and many other things. The railroads reaching westward 
from Minneapolis are largely engaged in hauling this 
lumber to the western towns. The mills at Minneapolis 



THE PINERIES ANB LUMBERING 117 

are constantly taking orders from these western cities, 
and the success of their business depends upon the 
amount of lumber needed on the farms and in the towns 
of the prairie regions. A failure of crops in Dakota is 
therefore a serious drawback to tlie lumber merchants of 
Minneapolis. 

It is clear, then, that the pine forests of northern 
Minnesota are quite important to the farmers of the 
prairie regions. But the winter snows in the pineries, the 
spring floods in the rivers, the sawmills at Minneapolis, 
and the long railroad lines stretching westward, are neces- 
sary to bring the prairies and pineries into close and cheap 
communication. The lumbermen in their camps must also 
receive tiieir flour, corn, and grain, besides beef and other 
meats, from the farmers of the prairie districts. Thus the 
exchanges take place. 

Having seen the movement of logs from the lumber 
camps along the Upper Mississippi to Minneapolis, and the 
distribution of lumber from that point westward, w^e may 
expand this idea to observe how far it is repeated in other 
states. There are several large lumber streams tliat flow 
into the Mississippi below St. Paul, as the St. Croix, 
Chippewa, Black, and Wisconsin. They send thousands 
of logs into the Mississippi, which are sawed up at the 
great sawmills at Wabasha, Red Wing, Winona, La Crosse, 
Davenport, etc. In fact nearly all the towms, large and 
small, along the Mississippi from St. Paul to St. Louis, 
are lumber towns Avith saw and planing mills, and rail- 
roads stretching westward over w^hich the lumber is 
shipped into Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, etc. The leading in- 
dustry in nearly all these towns is lumbering and milling. 
Again, if we look toward eastern Wisconsin and northern 



118 



TYPE STUDIES 



Michigan, both in the upper and lower peninsula, we shall 
find numerous logging rivers, lined with lumber camps 
and sawmills. Thus it is that such immense quantities of 
lumber reach Milwaukee, Chicago, and other lake ports to 
be shipped west and southwest into the pra,irie region. 
Chicago is one of the greatest lumber markets in the 




Fig. 39. 

Map showing the regions from which considerable timber is now being 

obtained. 



world because of the ship loads of lumber that come down 
to Lake Michigan and to other lakes from the lumber 
streams in the pineries. Bay City, Detroit, and other cities 
of the lower peninsula are important centres for the lumber 
business. If we care to extend tliis inquiry we shall find 
that that part of Canada wliich borders the Lakes, the St. 
Lawrence, and its tributaries, is all a region of pineries and 
lumbering simihir to that in Minnesota. Later, in our 
study of the Eastern States, we shall be interested to see 



THE PINERIES AND LUMBERING 119 

that northern New York, along Lake Champlain and the 
Hudson, and the rivers of Maine, are the centres of a 
lumber business abnost identical with that of the upper 
Mississippi. 

After such an inquiry as is just suggested, we are pre- 
pared to fix the region of pine forests in, at least, Minnesota, 
Wisconsin, and iVlichigan. In doing so we have an 
opportunity of locating those states more carefully, also 
the cliief tributaries of the upper Mississippi and of the 
lake region, and those cities which are important centres 
of the lumber trade and their facilities for this traffic. 

It may be well at this point to compare more carefully the 
prairie regions a^lready treated with the pine forests in re- 
gard to soil, climate, and general appearance of the country. 
The contrast is a striking one. These tall, gloomy pineries, 
rooted in a light, sandy soil, which is good for little else, 
contrast strongly with the black mould of the prairies 
which in its natural state supports only grasses and wild 
flowers. And yet these two regions are very necessary 
to each other. The study of the mines in the lake regions 
will make this still more apparent. 



THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI 

The great river above its junction with the Missouri is 
very different from the stream below. Above St. Louis 
the river is lined with bluff's on both sides. It is a mighty 
trough, crooked and irregular, winding and twisting its 
way southward between high bluffs, which give great vari- 
ety of scenery, and, being crowned with waving forests or 
steep with bare rocks, furnish splendid panoramic views 
as we pass up or down the river in a steamer. Many of 
the cities like Quincy, Davenport, Clinton, and Dubuque 
have a commanding position on the slopes and bluffs skirt- 
ing the wide valley. Just above Davenport and Rock 
Island the river passes the rapids and rocky ledges which 
have made navigation at this point difficult and dangerous. 
Here also is the island which the government has made into 
a great park with arsenals and a military station. Between 
the island and the west shore the government has built a 
series of jetties and rocky buttresses in the channel to nar- 
row and deepen the current. But during low water in July 
and August the steamers and barges have difficulty in pass- 
ing these rapids. Here, as elsewhere, the river has broad 
bottom-lands, often well wooded and furnishing a rich soil 
for corn and grain when not flooded. As we move north- 
ward the bluffs gradually grow higher and more command- 
ing, and the streams coming down from the prairies on 
either side must cut deeper channels in order to reach the 
river. There is a great profusion of forests along the 

120 



THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI 121 

bluffs, which give an appearance of luxuriance to the val- 
ley which is in keeping with the richness of the country. 

Between La Crosse and Winona the river valley reaches 
its grandest proportions, and its isolated bluffs appear 
Almost as mountains. 

Before leaving Winona, however, it is well to take a 
glance at the panoramic view there furnished. Standing 
on the bridge across the lake, which is really an old clian- 
nel of the river, or at some other point where there is an 
nnobstructed view, how far can the eye travel across the 
valley and along tlie bluffs on either side ? Perhaps we 
shall not find a broader or more interesting sight than is 
spread out at our feet. As we go up the river we shall 
take notice if anything finer than this appeal's. At Winona 
the bluffs on the south and west sweep round in a great 
curve like an immense bow, and if a string were stretched 
from Trempealeau Mountain in the sontheast to the corre- 
sponding hills in the northwest, Winona would lie inside, i,e. 
between the bow and the string. The bluffs to the south- 
east look like distant mountains, while the receding ridges 
to the north appear almost like successive steps as they 
fade away into indistinct outlines in the distance. Stand- 
ing on the brow of the bluff more than five hundred feet 
above Winona, we may look up the great river valley about 
thirty miles, and southward tlirough the narrow gorge at 
Trempealeau to La Crosse, an equal distance. On the other 
side lies Wisconsin w^ith its castled rocks and wooded 
ravines. 

Without dwelling longer upon this, w^e embark, and 
soon find that the river has a devious course among the 
lowlands. The bluffs are by no means straight in their 
outlines, but the channel of the river is much more crooked. 



122 TYPE STUDIES 

Why does the river make such a winclmg course among 
the sand-banks, jogging from one side of the broad valley 
to the other ? Just above Winona we know there is a net- 
work of bayous. How have they been formed ? In times 
of spring floods the whole broad valley, from four to seven^ 
miles from bluff to bluff, is nearly covered with the rush- 
ing waters ; old channels are cut off and partly filled, while 
new ones are opencvd. Even when the water is not so high 
the current is constantly changing the channel, drifting in 
sand in one place and w^ashing it away somewhere else. 
Jetties are built near Winona to deepen the current. 
They appear as narrow ridges of stone run out into the 
stream at intervals to confine the current in a narrow 
channel. We begin now to see what difficulties the pilot 
on our boat has to meet. Not only must he know all the 
windings of the current by day and night, even in the dark, 
so as not to run aground, but he must keep track of the 
changes which take place by the drifting of the sands. 

We are already familiar with the ravines that lie 
between the bluffs. On our left we soon see the still 
broader opening where the RoUingstone comes down to 
join the Mississippi. Here lies Minnesota City, one of 
the oldest settlements in the state. Just before reaching 
Wabasha, the opening in the bluffs on the west shows 
where the Zumbro River comes in, upon a branch of which 
Rochester is situated. Just beyond Wabasha the Chip- 
pewa, the great lumber stream of Wisconsin, joins the 
Mississippi from the north. The town itself, like Winona, 
is a county seat. There is also a bridge of boats across the 
river witli a draw, througli which our steamboat passes. It 
is a town much like Winona, only not so large. Sawmills 
and great piles of lumber, machine shops and factories, can 



THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI 123 

be seen. Being just below the mouth of the Chippewa, 
Wabasha can get lumber rafts from Wisconsin as easily as 
Winona and other cities below. Bejoncl Wabasha the 
Mississippi bends more toward the west, and not many 
miles up the river Ave enter Lake Pepin. 

The bluffs are nearly as high along the Like as at 
Winona, but only about half as far apart. Nearly the 
whole valleys however, between the bluffs, is filled with a 
deep lake, twenty-five miles long and from two to three 
miles wide. On the w^est, one long bluff, near Lake City, 
is entirely covered with forests. On the other side, in 
Wisconsin, stands Maiden Rock, from the top of which, 
according to Indian story, an Indian maiden jumped, be- 
cause she was not allowed to wed the man she loved. Her 
name was Winona. Standing on one of the cliffs by 
Lake Pepin, one gets the finest view along the Mississippi 
in Minnesota. The bluffs themselves, rocky or covered 
with forests, are as striking as those near Winona, but 
between them lies the deep, dark lake, filling the whole 
valley. Several towns and villages are in sight along 
the margin of the lake, steamboats and rafts move along 
over the water, while swift, rumbling railroad trains may 
be seen, at times, going up or down the valley on both 
sides of the lake at the foot of the bluffs. This is a sicrht 
well worth studying, and to make it vivid and real, use 
the best pictures that can be obtained. 

Between the upper end of Lake Pepin and tlie mouth 
of Cannon River is the town of Red Wing, which not only 
has flour and saw mills, like Winona, but also a pottery, 
Avhere jars, crocks, and other stoneware are made. A 
kind of clay is found here which can be moulded into jars, 
etc., and after being dried is baked and burned in large 



124 TYPE STUDIES 

kilns or ovens. This reminds us of the way in which 
bricks are made and burned in the brick-kilns at home. 
Whatever additional facts of interest and pictures con- 
nected with this business the teacher can give will be of 
value at this point. At Red Wing there is also a boot 
and shoe factory, where boots and shoes are made much 
more rapidly than by shoemakers at their benches. How 
is it done ? We said there were sawmills at Red Wing. 
Where do their rafts of logs come from? From the Chip- 
pewa? But the mouth of the Chippewa is too far down I 
Are lumber rafts floated down the Cannon River from the 
west? No. The Cannon River comes from a prairie 
country, or from a region where there are no pine forests. 
Perhaps there is a lumber river farther up the Mississippi 
coming from the pine forests. We shall seel Just above 
Red Wing, where the Cannon River comes in from the 
west, there is a bottom-land as broad as the valley of 
the Mississippi River. A railroad from Red Wing fol- 
lows the valley of this river toward the west to Cannon 
City, Northfield, etc. The Cannon River is lined with 
fine bluffs and wooded hills, and is a pleasant trip for 
sight-seers in fine weather. 

But from Red Wing we keep up the Mississippi River 
to Hastings. Just before reaching this city we notice a 
large river coming into the Mississippi from the north, the 
St. Croix. This is the great lumber stream for which we 
have been looking. It comes from the pineries and sends 
down great rafts of pine logs in springtime. It was at 
a narrow place in tliis stream that the big lumber jam 
recently occurred. If possible show a good picture of this 
and explain it. Many of the rafts for Wabasha, Winona, 
and other towns are first floated down the St. Croix. At 



THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI 125 

Hastings is another great railroad bridge across the Missis- 
sippi which swings open at the sound of the steamboat 
whistle. This is the bridge where the trains of tlie Mil- 
waukee road from Winona cross the Mississippi befor(3 
coming to St. Paul. At Hastings, a little river, the Ver- 
milion, comes into the Mississippi from the north. As h 
passes over tlie rocks it forms the beautiful Vermilion 
Falls near the city. Hastings, too, has flour-mills and saw- 
mills. Wliy is it that every one of these towns along the 
Mississippi has large flour-mills just as Winona has? 
Where does all the wheat come from that is ground in 
these mills ? Why are all the important towns between 
Winona and St. Paul on the Minnesota side of the river, 
— Winona, Wabasha, Red Wing, and Hastings? On our 
journey north we may have noticed that the bluffs are 
growing lower along the Mississippi. Before reaching 
St. Paul there are two other points of interest, Kaposia, 
the old Indian village just below the great bend, and Car- 
ver's cave in the white sandstone rocks just below St. Paul. 
Here the Indian tribes were accustomed to gather at the 
opening of every spring. 

As St. Paul comes in sight there seems to be a lower and 
an upper town. The lower town, where the wharves and 
stations are, is not many feet above the level of high 
water. Tliis level land reaches back from the river in a 
sort of broad valley. Farther up the river we can see 
large buildings on tlie edge of steep, wliite bluffs. Several 
bridges for railroads and wagons cross the river to the 
south. Most of them slope toward the south side, because 
it is lower. The steamboats can get up no fartlier than 
this, and at the wharf in St. Paul tliey unload their 
cargoes and take on such grain, flour, and produce as they 



126 TYPE STUDIES 

maj^ desire to carry clown the river. The river barges also 
unload their sand, brick, and building stone at the wharf. 
Where does the building stone come from ? Red Wing 
and Dresbach. We need some good pictures of the city 
and river at this point. Close at hand is the great railroad 
depot, with its many roads and trains coming and going 
at all hours. On the Avay up the river we have noticed 
the railroad tracks and trains on both sides of the great 
valley. Which are more rapid and convenient, the trains 
or steamboats ? Which do the greater business ? 

Here let us take a general survey of the surface fea- 
tures of the whole state. Briefly, it is as follows : At 
St. Paul or near there the Mississippi and its tributaries 
branch out like a fan and drain the great interior of the 
state. Beyond this the Height of Land, a low ridge of 
rounded hills, circles about the sources of the Mississippi 
from the western to the northeastern part of the state. 
From this ridge one may look down on the streams and 
hikes which send their waters southward to the Gulf, or on 
the other side upon streams and lakes that flow northward 
into Hudson Bay. With chalk in hand, sketching the out- 
line, the teacher may point out the forest and prairie re- 
gions of Minnesota, besides the pineries already noticed, 
the '' big w^oods," then the courses of the lied River and 
Rainy Lake River. 

St. Paul is really the head of navigation, but excursion 
steamers go up the river four or five miles to Fort Snell- 
ing and Minnehaha Falls. Both are on the west side of 
the Mississippi, the fort on a steep white bluff nearly a 
hundred feet high at the angle where the Minnesota from 
the southwest joins the Mississippi. This old fort, with 
its white walls and rock, the. old meeting place of Indians, 



TtiE uppkh Mississippi 127 

soldiers, and traders, is one of the most picturesque and 
historically interesting places in Minnesota. A high 
bridge crosses the river from the bluff at the back of the 
fort to the bluff west of St. Paul, so that the old for- 
tress is easily supplied with needed materials and provi- 
sions. Some two miles farther up the Mississippi is the 
entrance to the valley and Falls of Minnehaha. It is a 
deep narrow caiion a mile long and filled with trees and 
shrubbery. At the upper end of the valley, Minnehaha 
Falls tumbles over the semicircular rocks into the gorge 
and the water winds its way through the narrow valley to 
join the Mississippi. Grounds have been laid out for a 
park along the bluffs above and a street car runs hourly to 
Minneapolis. For five or six miles below the falls at 
Minneapolis the Mississippi River flows through a narrow 
canon from eighty to one hundred feet deep. Just above 
the falls the river bank is only twelve or fifteen feet high. 
The falls have been slowdy receding toward the north as 
the waters in tumbling over the ledge have worn and 
crumbled the rocks, and the deep, narrow canon below is 
the product of the action of the falls. But by boarding 
up the falls with a framework of timbers and forming 
great chutes down which the water glides, the action of 
the water upon the rocks has been checked and the scenery 
destroyed. Bridges cross the river both below and above 
the falls. Those which cross below must span the canon 
and are therefore much higlier above the water. Just 
below the falls and on the east side are the extensive 
grounds and buiUlings of the University of Minnesota. 
Tliey stand upon tlie bluff' a hundred or more feet above 
the level of the river. Just above the falls are tlie exten- 
sive lumber-vards of a half-dozen orroat sawmills. A 



128 TYPE STUDIES 

long island divides the river just above the falls and both 
the currents above the bridges are almost filled with acres 
and acres of floating logs. This is the greatest centre for 
the lumber trade of the northwest. In the time of spring 
floods the river still makes a majestic appearance at the 
falls as it descends with a mighty rush the forty feet to 
the waters of the canon below. Even in summer time 
when the water is low it is interesting to stand on one of 
the high bridges below and watch the stray logs come 
tumbling over the falls. One can observe, too, that the 
greater part of the current does not pass over the falls at 
all, but emerges in a large stream from the foot of the mills 
after passing through the big turbine wheels that move 
all the machinery of the greatest flour-mills in the world. 
There is much navigable water above the falls, and in 
springtime especially tlie rafting steamers are busy bring- 
ing down the log rafts to the mills. But there are several 
falls and rapids in the upper stream that furnish excellent 
water-power as yet not much used, but hindering naviga- 
tion. Navigation on the upper stream is also hindered 
by snags and obstructions, but these must be removed in 
springtime so as to free the river for rafts and steamers. 
The upper part of the river from a line sixty miles north 
of St. Paul is in the region of pineries, from which the 
pine logs come. This is also the region of numberless 
lakes where hunting and fishing are still in their prime. 
Minnesota is said to have ten thousand lakes, and those 
most attractive for hunting and fishing and for solitude 
are on the high plateau where the Mississippi takes its 
rise. There the great woods are solitudes, the lakes and 
rivers are clear and fresh, and the fish and fowl abundant. 
The great river itself, in its early upward course, passes 



THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI 129 

through a number of smaller and larger lakes as it makes 
the great bend to the east and south. It passes over many 
rapids and falls as it descends from the uplands, and 
steadily grows as new streams from the woods and lakes 
enter it from either side. In winter time this is a very 
cold country of deep snows and snow-shoes, and a quiet 
but steady freezing atmosphere. But in summer it is tlie 
chosen land of the hunter and boatman. 

The head waters of the Mississippi and of its tributary 
streams, with their lakes and forests, have become an 
object of great interest to the people dwelling along 
tlie banks of the river throughout its whole course, even 
to New Orleans and the delta. The woods, lakes, and 
streams of the Upper Mississippi in Minnesota and otlier 
states are the great reservoir from which the floods come 
down to break the levees and flood the lowlands of Missis- 
sippi and Louisiana. Of course the sources of the Ohio 
and Missouri are equally responsible. Now, if these 
floods of water in springtime can be checked and held 
back, in part at least, it will help to save the lower river 
from destructive floods. But in summer time the upper 
river, from Rock Island to St. Paul, is often too shallow 
for the regular steamers. If these waters, which have 
been held back in springtime, can be let go to deepen the 
river in the droutli of summer, it will greatly aid the navi- 
gation of the upper stream. The government, therefore, 
lias been at work for some years constructing and arrang- 
ing for great reservoirs in the upper sources of the Missis- 
sippi, by which the spring waters may be held back. Still 
another advantage of such reservoirs would be that it 
would make the season of floating logs down the river 
longer and also sup})ly the great mills at Minneapolis and 

K 



130 TYPE STUDIES 

elsewhere a larger water-power in the summer time when 
it is needed. It is apparent, therefore, that all parts of 
the great river stand in close dependence upon each 
other. The forests in the north are very important as a 
means of water preservation and must be protected for 
their great public value. In winter time the northern part 
of the valley is a reservoir from which to cut and ship 
vast quantities of ice to the south, while the other prod- 
ucts of the north and south are exchanged by boat. 

The purpose of such an excursion as this is to bring to- 
gether into one connected series the idea of a river valley 
with all its living pictures and associated facts, — the 
narrow, winding valley, the panoramic views of bluffs, 
lake, and broad bottom-lands, forests, villages, cities, in= 
dustries, tributary streams, bridges, railroads, rafts, steam- 
boats, and river commerce. All this is to become vivid 
and clear, and a good type of a great river valley upon 
dozens of streams the world over. The more good pic- 
tures and illustrations of these and of similar scenes on 
the Mississippi, the more vivid descriptions based on ex- 
perience and reading, the better. One complete and de- 
tailed account of a river trip like this is more productive 
of knowledge and insight and more helpful to future 
geography study than a dozen superficially studied. 
What is true of the Mississippi will be found in the 
main to be true of the Hudson, of the Rhine, and of 
the Danube, and it will be tenfold easier to understand 
one of these distant rivers and the country through 
which it flows if we first form a concrete and detailed 
picture of one of our own great streams. 

Just as we have already dealt with the lumbering 
l)usiness in detail and with the Upper Mississippi, we 



THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI 131 

are ready now to do tlie same for the wheat and flour 
mills. We desire an exhaustive account of the work on 
a wheat farm, the ploughing, sowing, harvesting, thresh- 
ing, granaries, and marketing of the grain ; the scenes 
from a great wheat-field, a characteristic thing for Minne- 
sota, the machinery used, — ploughs, drills, self-binders, 
threshing machines ; how the wheat is brought to the 
stations and elevators, then carried by the chief railroad 
lines to Minneapolis and other river cities, to the big 
mills ; what is done with such quantities of flour after 
it is made in Minneapolis and Winona and other cities ; 
where the hungry people live who want all this flour for 
bread ; and what they have to send us in return. 



THE HARD-WOOD FOREST REGION OF THE 
OHIO VALLEY 

Contrast the appearance of the Ohio Valley now and 
two hundred years ago. 

Indiana is much of it to-day a well-wooded country. 
There are large forests of oak, hickory, maple, beech, pop- 
lar, walnut, sycamore, and other hard-wood trees. The 
southern half of Indiana still contains extensive forests, 
while the northern quarter has level prairies and swamps. 
As one rides on the railroads through Indiana, he will see 
large piles of sawlogs near the sawmills at the towns 
and cities. These are being worked uj) by the saw into 
useful lumber. If one travels out into the country, he 
will find in the woods sawmills, run by water or steam 
power. Many of the fields are still sprinkled with stumps, 
and in some places we see the dead trees standing which 
have been girdled the last season. After the trees die, 
they are cut down ; those good for lumber or wood are cut 
up and hauled away, while the brush and other tree trunks 
are burned up. These smouldering fires are often seen by 
the traveller passing through the Ohio Valley. During the 
last eighty years the great forests that covered the hills 
and plains and valleys of this region have been largely cut 
away, and the stumps have rotted in the ground or were 
pulled up and burned. There are, therefore, many large, 
open fields and districts of country where meadows of 

132 



IIABD-WOOD FORESTS 183 

grass or fields of corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, and other 
grains or vegetables are seen. Indiana, Kentucl^y, etc., 
have thns grown to be very rich agricultural states, with 
many cities, towns, and railroads. When the white men 
first began to settle these states and make homes in the 
wilderness, it was totally different from what is seen 
to-day. . The great w^oods, with their towering trees, cov- 
ered nearly the whole land. Very old men now living can 
remember when the Ohio Valley was one large forest, with 
no railroads and very few wagon roads. 

The early settlers in Indiana were the French at Vin- 
cennes and along the Wabash River. They were a joyous, 
happy people, Avho Avere very friendly with the Indians 
and were good wood rangers and trappers. * They hunted 
deer and buffalo, wild turkey and squirrels, and other wild 
animals for their pelts. When they travelled, it was 
either on foot as hunters or in boats up and down the 
rivers. 

At the close of the French and Indian wars, the Yankees 
and other Englisli-speaking whites began to cross the 
Alleghany Mountains into the Ohio Valley. From Pitts- 
burg they came down the Ohio River in flatboats and 
canoes and landed near the river in Oliio, Kentucky, and 
Indiana. The very first thing (as at Cincinnati) was to 
clear aw^ay the brush and trees of the forest, making room 
for liouses and forts and gardens. As one rides in a 
steamboat along the Ohio River to-day, few of these old 
forests are seen left standing. They have been cut away 
from the bottom-lands and the level upi)er bottoms, and 
only along the steeper liillsides and bluffs are many trees 
seen. As the early immigrants landed on the north bank 
of the Ohio in Indiana they had to make their way througli 



134 TYPE STUDIES 

the woods, and up the ravines to the better lands back from 
the river (as in Lincoln's early boyhood). There were 
no roads for wagons, and when a good spot was found for 
building, trees were felled, a clearing made, and the rough 
tree trunks were squared down with a broadaxe and a log 
house commenced. The ends were notched and the logs 
jointed together at the corners. The pioneer was his own 
carpenter. He had saw and axe, plane and auger, and 
other tools, and was strong and skilful in their use. The 
log hut often had but one room, with a loft reached by a 
ladder or by pins driven into the logs, and it was used by 
the older children as a sleeping room. 

The early settlers lived partly by hunting and partly 
by raising crops on the clearings. Before crops could be 
raised the trees had to be cut down and burned up, a very 
heavy labor, and when the stumpy field was ready it was 
ploughed and put in corn or wheat, melons or vegetables. 

At first there were no public surveys, and the settler 
selected a spot to suit himself. "- Deadening a patch of 
woods near the head of a spring, cutting the initials of the 
claimant's name on the corner trees, and throwing up any 
sort of a hut constituted an improvement. Division lines 
were chiefly on the water courses, or on the top of the 
ridges. The earliest farms, therefore, resembled an amphi- 
theatre. The cabin was always on the lower ground, 
which pleased the squatter because of its convenience ; 
everything came to the house down hill." — Americaij 
Commonwealths, ''Ohio," p. 191. Afterwards, when the 
land was laid out by public surveys, these old farm-houses 
were found to be far from the roads. Later people began 
also to build on the higher lands, but for many years the 
old settlers believed there was less ague in the lowlands. 



HARD-WOOD FORESTS 135 

" The millions who are dwelling in peace and plenty in 
the broad farms and busy towns of Ohio and Indiana to- 
day can get no realizing sense from mere words of the 
hardships by which their prosperity was earned. The 
toilsome journey of the pioneers, the steep mountain ways, 
the camping out, where there were no inns and hardly 
a road to guide them, Avere as nothing to the dreariness 
which, at the journey's end, confronted the immigrant 
and his devoted wife and tender children. The unbroken 
forest was all that welcomed them, and the awful stillness 
of the night had no refrain but the howl of the wolf or 
wailing of the whippoorwill. The nearest neighbor often 
was miles away. 

" Their first necessity was to girdle the trees and grub 
a few acres for corn and truck patch, sufficient for the 
season. As soon as the logs were cut a cabin was built 
with the aid of neighbors. Necessity invented the house 
raising, as it did the log rolling and corn shucking." When 
the logs and timbers for the framework of the house were 
ready tlie neighbors were called in, and the heavy structure 
was lifted into place by the united strength of the men. 
When tlie work was done a feast and jollification followed. 
Neiglibors were accustomed to help each other often in 
such ways, and to join in the corn huskings, bear hunts, 
log rollings, and weddings, the latter lasting usually three 
days. 

'' The log house, with its clapboard roof, single room, and 
door, if an)^, swinging upon wooden hinges, with no 
window but a patch of greased newspaper between the 
logs, and no floor but the ground, was often finished at 
nightfall on the spot where the trees had stood in the 
morning. The daubing of the chinks and wooden chimney 



136 TYPE STUDIES 

with clay and a few pegs in the interior for the housewife's 
use were all that this simple cabin in those days could afford. 

" But food rather than shelter was the severest want of 
the pioneers. True, the woods were full of game, but 
venison, turkey, and bear meat all the time became tiresome 
enough. There was no bread nor salt. The scanty salt 
springs (salt licks) were precious. The Indian corn, when 
once started, was the chief reliance for man and beast. 
This crop, converted also into bacon, pork, and whiskey, 
soon became the staple of the country. Tlie lack of mills 
was at first deeply felt. Corn was parched and ground by 
hand or by horse power. 

" The furniture of the cabins and dress of the people 
were very simple. Good tables, cupboards, and benches 
were made of poplar and beech woods. The buckeye 
furnished bowls and platters and split-bottom chairs. 
Bearskins were bed and bedding. The deerskin, dressed 
and undressed, was much used for clothing, and the skins 
of the raccoon and rabbit were a favorite headgear. But 
wool and flax soon abounded and spinning-wheels and 
looms became standard articles in every house. The hulls 
of walnuts and butternuts were used for dyeing, also a 
root of bright yellow, and later indigo and madder for the 
hunting shirt and warmus. These primitive fashions 
yielded as store goods, together with iron and Onondaga 
salt, began to be introduced by the great Pennsylvania 
wagons from Pittsburg and the ports along the Ohio. 
Goods were also brought uj) the river from New Orleans 
in keel boats. 

" The pioneers had pastimes and festivities also in their 
own way. Besides others, there were the sugar camp, the 
militia musters, the bear hunts, the shooting matches, and 



HARD-WOOD FORESTS 137 

the races. At these the neighborhood for miles around 
Avas wont to gather. The quilting party was a joy in 
feminine circles. The camp-meetings were another early 
custom, and used to supply the place of Sunday worship." 

Travelling was at first mainly on foot and on horseback. 
There were few wagon roads, and those very rough and in 
many places miry and bad even in good weather. Tlie 
great forests kept the soil so moist that the roads could not 
dry out. It was very difficult for some years to get the sur- 
plus grain and meat to market. In the spring, at the 
time of floods, flatboats would be loaded with meat or 
grain and sent down the smaller streams to the Ohio, and 
thence to New Orleans. When a few roads had been 
built, the farmers would haul their meat and grain many 
miles to Cincinnati or other river towns, and purchase 
goods with the money gained from their produce. 

The early settlers in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois needed 
a better connection with the eastern states from which they 
came. As early as 1808 they secured aid from Congress in 
building a road from the tide-water east of the AUeghanies 
to the Ohio River. This old national road crossed the Ohio 
River at Wheeling and ran across Ohio, Indiana, and Illi- 
nois, passing through Columbus, Indianapolis, and Terre 
Haute to St. Louis. As soon as it was built emigrants 
from the east came by wagons with all their goods to set- 
tle in these states, and goods were sent in great wagon 
loads to the east. As the country was settled up roads 
were opened through the forest in all directions, and the 
swampy lands were crossed by means of corduroy roads, 
consisting of logs and boards laid crosswise of the wagon 
path in swampy places. It caused very rough riding, but 
was better than mirincr in the mud. 



138 TYPE STUDIES 

The early pioneers in the great forests of Indiana had 
another enemy in the shape of fever and ague and other 
diseases of a wet, malarial country. Much of the land was 
swampy and covered more or less with stagnant water, 
which the forests prevented from evaporating. Often- 
times no physicians were to be had, as the settlers were 
widely scattered; there were few towns, and medicine 
was hard to get. The milk sickness, supposed to have 
been caused from drinking the milk of cows that had 
fed on some poisonous plant, was a great plague. Fevers, 
agues, and bilious complaints were very common, and 
the settlers used quantities of quinine as the gre'at remedy. 
As the forests have been cut away and the wet and 
swampy places drained out, the country has become much 
more healthful. 

In order to secure a better outlet for trade great canals 
were dug connecting Lake Erie on the north with the 
Wabash and Ohio on the south. The farmers living near 
the canal could ship their grain and meat much cheaper to 
Buffalo or Cincinnati or New Orleans, and new settlers 
could bring their goods by canal. 

The wagon roads were constantly improved. Gravel 
roads and turnpikes began to be built more than sixty 
3^ears ago. If we visit the county towns (county seats) 
in Indiana to-day, we shall find a set of well-gravelled 
roads, smooth and solid even in muddy and wet weather, 
reaching out into the country and enabling the farmers at 
all seasons to haul heavy loads to the markets or to use 
their carriages in travel. These gravelled roads have been 
a great expense to the farmers and townspeople, but they 
are of great value for trade and travel. 

Between 1830 and 1840 railroads began to be built in 



IIAlW-WOOl) FORESTS 



139 



Indiana and Ohio, especially those running east and west, 
connecting the eastern states with the western. When 
Indianapolis was first laid out in the centre of Indiana it 
was in the midst of the forest. Tlie White River, near 
which it stood, was not large enougli for navigation, and 




Fig. 41. 
A lumber camp in the Ohio Valley. 

roads had to be built to connect tlie city with Cincinnati 
and other cities. When tlie railroads were built Indianap- 
olis became a very important centre for the trade of the 
whole state. All the railroads from different directions 
meet in one great depot, which has come to be one of the 
greatest railroad centres in the world. 



140 TYPE STUDIES 

The forests of Indiana have always been of great value 
to the state. In the early settlement they furnished 
building materials for houses, barns, bridges, roads, fences, 
and for furniture, wagons, etc. Later the forests have 
been cut down for lumber such as poplar, hickory, oak, 
walnut, maple, beech, and sycamore. The forests still 
furnish a large amount of hard-wood lumber for the great 
factories and car works in Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville, 
and other cities, but in many parts the finest lumber trees 
have been cut down, and what are left have an increased 
value. The black walnut, for example, once abounded in 
these forests, but most of the walnut trees have been cut 
down and made into lumber for sewing machines, organs, 
tables, desks, and other furniture. 

Indiana was only a part of the great hard-wood forest 
region lying on the western slopes of the Alleghany 
Mountains and stretching away hundreds of miles to the 
prairies of Illinois and Missouri, The early settlers who 
first crossed the mountains into the Ohio Valley, and then 
floated for hundreds of miles down that stream, must have 
felt that the forest was endless. They began to cut down 
and clear away the great trees as if it would be impossible 
for the supply to give out. West Virginia, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and part of Illinois and 
Missouri were covered by these great stretches of forest. 
All the country drained by the Ohio and its tributaries, 
the Muskingum, Scioto, Wabash, the Kanawha, Kentucky, 
Cumberland, and Tennessee, the Allegheny and Mononga- 
hela, was an almost unknown woodland. In those early 
days it was full of game, and dangerous because of Indians. 
Buffalo, deer, wild turkey, beaver, raccoon, bear, squirrel, 
pigeons, and other wild fowls and animals were abundant. 



HARD-WOOD FORESTS 141 

At Marietta, the first large settlement in Ohio, Mr. 
King says (American Commonwealths, ''Ohio," p. 201): 
"Whatever their privations and dangers, the adventurers 
were spared any fears of famine. Their fields and gardens 
were not only fruitful beyond tlieir utmost expectation, 
but the abundance of fish, flesh, and foAvl was simply 
prodigious. Buffalo, deer, and bear seemed to wait upon 
tliem. Geese, ducks, and pigeons swarmed. The fish 
fairly infested the rivers, and were of such superlative 
size, that if tlie accounts of tliem were not proved by good 
evidence, they might be set aside as fish stories. Colonel 
]\Iay says that a pike weighing one hundred pounds was 
served up at a fourth of July barbecue, and catfish of 
sixty and eighty pounds were often cauglit." 

But the appearance of this heavily forested region has 
changed greatly during the last hundred years. Tlie wild 
game is mostly gone. The forests tliemselves have largely 
disappeared, and great fields of corn, wheat, oats, meadow 
and pasture lands now stretch away where once stood 
miglity trees so thick that their shade darkened the 
ground. The swamps have been drained, roads and 
bridges built, cities and towns are tliick, and tlie railroads 
extending in every direction cover the land with what ap- 
pears on a map as a network of lines and crossings. Great 
cities like Indianapolis, Nashville, Columbus, Cleveland, 
Cincinnati, and Louisville have become the homes and 
trading places of hundreds of thousands of people where 
a little more than a hundred years ago there were no inhab- 
itants at all, only forests and wild game and wilderness. 

In our day the serious question is not how to get rid of 
the forests, as with our grandfathers sixty years ago, but 
how to save them. The forests have been cut doAvn too 



142 TYPE STUDIES 

much, not only destroying much valuable lumber, but 
changing the climate and causing the rivers to flood their 
banks in spring. The forests no longer hold the water 
back but it runs off too quickly in the springtime. The 
question of the future is therefore largely to protect the 
forests, to plant out trees, and to provide for an extension 
of the forest area. 

It will be of special interest to compare the forest area 
of the pineries of the northern states with the hard-wood 
forest region of the Ohio Valley. Which has the greater 
extent ? The appearance of the forests in the two sections 
is very different. After the pine forests are cut down in 
the north, a sandy, somewhat barren soil is left, while the 
soil of the hard- wood region is strong and fruitful. A 
comparison of the hard-wood forests with the prairie region 
of Illinois, Iowa, etc., will also be of interest. The black 
soil of the prairies is contrasted with the lighter loam and 
clay of the forest belt. 

Reference : King's " History of Ohio," American Common- 
wealths. 




Fig. 42. 
The Ohio River. 

THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY 

The Ohio River, called by the early settlers the Beauti- 
ful River, has its sources high among the western slopes 
of tlie Alleghanies. The great tributaries on the south, 
from Kanawha to the Tennessee, drain the whole western 
slope of the Alleghanies as far as Alabama. On the north, 
the watershed between the Ohio branches and the Great 
Lakes is almost as low as between the Upper Mississippi 
and the Lakes. When the white men first penetrated the 
Ohio Valley, in the daj^s of Daniel Boone, it Avas covered 
with miglity forests of hard-wood trees, stretching away 
hundreds of miles to the Mississippi River (see previous 
topic). The buffalo, deer, l)ear, wild turkey, squirrels, 
and other game abounded. The axe of the pioneer and 
woodman has long since cleared awa}" a large part of these 
graiul old woods, and elianged them into fruitful fields 
and farms. 

Tlie Ohio River Valley naturally falls into three divi- 
sions. The first is the mountain district drained by the 

143 



144 TYPE STUDIES 

Allegheny and Monongahela and their branches. The 
Allegheny River rises in Lake Chautauqua, only eleven 
miles from Lake Erie, and descends through long, narrow 
valleys to its junction with the Monongahela. To one 
travelling through this valley now, it is chiefly remark- 
able for the huge oil-tanks and thousands of oil-wells 
which have made this region so famous for the production 
of petroleum and its by-products. 

The Monongahela, likewise, has worn a deep and nar- 
row valley between the long mountain ridges. In many 
places the steep, rocky walls, from two hundred to four 
hundred feet high close to the river banks, give the appear- 
ance of canons. The rock strata along this river are full 
of the coal measures, and the coal is seen cropping out 
between the layers of rock. Many coal-mines are run 
back horizontally into the mountains, and the coal is 
hauled out and dumped into the coal-barges Avhich line 
the shore. This river is supplied Avith a series of dams 
and locks and with slack- water navigation like that on the 
Illinois River. Rafts of logs also float doAvn from the 
mountains to the sawmills below. 

At the junction of the two rivers lie the cities of Pitts- 
burg and Allegheny, famous as centres for the iron busi- 
ness, also for oil and glass. Not only at the junction of these 
rivers are there great iron works, tall chimneys smoking 
day and night, and flashes of lurid light from the huge 
converters, but up and down the valleys of these rivers 
for many miles, at Braddock, Homestead, and McKeesport, 
at Sliarpsburg, and even to Wheeling and other cities, the 
great factories carry on their work of manufacturing iron 
and glass. Large quantities of coal and iron are found in 
tlie mountains of western Pennsjdvania, while the rivers 



THE OUIO niVER VALLEY^ 



145 



and railroads following tlie valleys bring in the raw in'od- 
nets for these huge factories. All these rivers and their 
larger tributaries supply the deep valleys through which 
railroads can be built into such mountain districts. 
During the winter the coal-barges are filled with coal at 
the mines, and as the spring floods swell the Ohio, a great 
fleet of lumber rafts from the mountains, coal-barges, and 




Fig. 43. 

Towboat with fleet of empty l)arijces going up the river. 



steaml)oats, is sent down the river to distribute these 
products through the Ohio Valley. 

The middle division of the Ohio Valley lies between 
Pittsburg and Louisville, and is a hilly, upland region. 
The rivers flowing into tlie Oliio from the nortli, like tlie 
^[uskingum and tlie Scioto, descend to the Ohio through 
deep valleys, with narrow flood plains, and most of the 
large cities are located at the outlet of these side valleys. 



146 TYPE STUDIES 

The rivers from the south, such as the Kanawha, Ken- 
tucky, and Big Sandy., come clown from the western 
slopes of the AUeghanies, and cut deep, narrow gorges on 
their way to the Oliio. In this part of its course the Oliio 
is lined with high bluffs, which are still covered in many 
places with forests of hard wood and evergreen. The 
cities are located on the river benches, between the low 
water and the bluffs above. The main channel, or trough, 
of the river is below these benches. The benches are 
usually sixty or sixty-five feet above low-water mark, but 
the heavy spring floods sometimes fill the great trough, 
rise even above the surface of the benches, and carry 
damage to towns and fields. 

The floods of the Ohio River are much dreaded, and 
are due in part to the removal of the forests, over vast 
areas, which once held the water in check and drained 
them off' more gradually to the rivers. The difference 
between high and low water mark has been sometimes as 
much as seventy feet. During the dry summer the main 
stream of the Ohio is at times not more than two or three 
feet deep, and navigation is wholly interrupted. 

At Louisville the river breaks over a series of limestone 
reefs, falling about twenty feet in three miles. In high 
water the rocks are covered, and boats pass down over 
these rapids easily, but in low water the rock ledges 
appear, and vessels must pass through the canal and locks 
at Louisville to avoid the rapids. 

Below Louisville the bottom-lands widen out into a 
broad alluvial plain, the bluffs retreating back from the 
stream, much as in the Lower Mississippi. Low, wooded 
islands are seen in the lowlands, and several large tribu- 
taries enter this great valley from the north and south. 



THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY 



147 



The Green River, which rises in the hills of central Ken- 
tucky, drains a region underlaid with carl)oniferous 
limestones, in which are found extensive caverns. The 
greatest of all these is Mammoth Cave, which has rooms 
and passages 150 miles in total length. The Green River 
draws some of its waters from underground streams of 




Fig. 44. 
A bridge over the Ohio at Cincinnati. 

this famous cavern. The regions of the Kentucky and 
Tennessee rivers have similar limestone rock strata, in 
which extensive caves are found. The great forests and 
decaying vegetation of these regions, by producing carbon 
dioxide, which was carried down into the rocks by rain- 
water, assisted greatly in dissolving the rock strata, and 
thus developing these extensive caverns. 

The Tennessee River, the longest and largest tributary 
of the Ohio, has its sources far up among the mountain crests 
of Virginia and North Carolina. This river, following the 



148 TYPE STUDIES 

long valleys of the AUeghanies far southward into Ala- 
bama, instead of keeping on its course toward the Gulf of 
Mexico, cuts through the Chickainauga ranges by narrow 
gorges and is turned by a low mountain ridge westward 
in a grand curve. Then, unable to cross the low ridge 
between it and the Mississippi, it turns its course north- 
ward through Tennessee to Kentucky and the Ohio. 
Thus the whole western slope of the AUeghanies is drained 
into the Ohio River. 

The Ohio Valley is, at the present time, the most im- 
portant in point of population, cities, and wealth of any 
part of the Mississippi Basin. Originally one vast hard- 
wood forest, it is still rich in timber lands, especially in 
Kentucky and Tennessee and West Virginia. The large 
coal and iron fields of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, 
Kentucky, and Tennessee, as well as of the Ohio and 
Indiana, are of vast importance. The tobacco regions 
of Kentucky and Tennessee, as of Indiana, centre mainly 
in the city of Louisville. In agriculture, Ohio, Indiana, 
Kentucky, and Tennessee have very rich resources and 
productions. 

This region comprises alargenumberof greatcities: Pitts- 
burg, 315,000 ; Allegheny, 125,000 ; Cincinnati, 405,000 ; 
Louisville, 225,000; Nashville, 100,000; Columbus, 135,000; 
Dayton, 85,000; Covington, 50,000; Newport, 30,000; 
Wheeling, 40,000; Chattanooga, 40, 000; Knoxville, 50,000; 
Lidianapolis, 169,000. Seven of these cities have more 
than 100,000 people each. If we compare these with the 
cities of the Upper Mississippi, a marked difference is seen: 
St. Paul, 175,000; Minneapolis, 200,000; Dubuque, 50,000; 
Des Moines, 70,000 ; Peoria, 70,000 ; La Crosse, 30,000 ; 
Davenport, 42,000 ; Quincy, 45,000» 



THE OHIO BIVER VALLEY 



149 



As compared with the Upper Mississippi, the Ohio is 
used much more for commerce, although the floods and 
drouth along the Ohio are more extreme. Pittsburg and 
Allegheny, at the head of the Ohio, correspond well with 
St. Paul and Minneapolis as centres of trade, though one 
is a level country and the other in the edge of the moun- 
tains. The coal, iron, and petroleum of the Upper Ohio 




Fig. 45:: 
An Ohio River steamboat. 



are as important as the wheat and lumber of the Twin 
Cities. 

In the early settlement of the Ohio Valley, more than 
one hundred years ago, the Ohio River and its chief tribu- 
taries were the great highways of travel. From Pittsburg 
the eastern settlers went down the Ohio in boats and settled 
at Marietta, Cincinnati, and many other places. As there 
were no good roads through tlie vast woods, no railroads or 
canals, the river became extremely important, and the main 
channel of tiie Ohio was throno'ed with boats and steamers. 



150 



TYPE STUDIES 



The early settlers at Nashville came in boats from east 
Tennessee down the whole length of the Tennessee River 
to the Ohio, and up the Cumberland to Nashville. To 
assist navigation before railroads became important, three 
different canals were built connecting the Ohio River with 
Lake Erie ; one along the Scioto River, one from Cincin- 
nati northward along the Miami and Maumee, and one by 
way of the Wabash. ^ Parts of these canals are still in use. 




Fig. 46. 
Marietta, the oldest town in^Ohio. 



but the building of numerous railroads has greatly dimin- 
ished water traffic both on the Ohio and larger rivers and 
on the canals. The building of the canal around the falls 
at Louisville and the construction of dams and locks in the 
Monongahela and other rivers have greatly improved the 
navigation of these channels. 

Some of the most interesting stories in American history 

1 Beginning in 1826, 658 miles of canal were built in Ohio at a cost 
of ^1514,688,000, besides improvements in the river channels by means 
of dams, feeders, etc. 



THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY 151 

are those of Boone, Robertson, and Sevier, who climbed 
over the Alleghany Mountains from Virginia and North 
Carolina and descended into the great forests and hunting- 
grounds of Tennessee and Kentucky. This region, so 
beautiful and delightful to the hunter and pioneer, was also 
known as the '' dark and bloody ground," on account of the 
fierce conflict between the northern and southern Indians 
among these forests. As the white men began to settle 
in these ancient hunting-grounds of the Indians, many 
bloody conflicts were fought between them. The Indians 
north of the Ohio often crossed into Kentucky and attacked 
the forts which Boone and others had built on the banks 
of the Kentucky and other rivers, killing and capturing 
men, women, and children. 

During the Revolutionary War the English combined 
with the northern Indians to make trouble for the Ken- 
tucky settlers. Then George Rogers Clark, witli his 
backwoodsmen from Kentucky and Tennessee, descended 
the Ohio in boats, captured Vincennes and Kaskaskia, and 
compelled both the Indians and English to make peace and 
acknowledge the power of the Americans far north of the 
Ohio River. 

In the same way, the southern Indians, Cherokees and 
Creeks, were aroused against the early settlers of Tennessee, 
but under the leadership of Sevier and Robertson the 
Indians were defeated. 

The region of Pittsburg and Monongahela had been 
made famous before the Revolution by Washington's 
journey to the French posts from Virginia, and later by 
Braddock's defeat and the final capture of Fort Pitt by the 
English and Americans at the close of the last French and 
Indian War. 



152 TYPE STUDIES 

Up to the time of the Civil War, in 1861, the Ohio River 
was the boundary line between the free states and the 
slave states. Negroes held in slavery in Kentucky often 
escaped across the Ohio and with the assistance of friendly 
whites made their way across Ohio to Canada. This gave 
rise to what was known as the underground railway, as 
the fugitives were carried northward secretly, often at 
night. 

During the Civil War the valleys of the Tennessee and 
Cumberland were made notable by important battles as 
at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing, 
Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville. 

Instead of reviewing the facts of the Upper Mississippi 
and of the Ohio Valley separately and by merely repeating 
them for each, it will be advantageous to review them 
together, comparing them, item by item, as follows : — 

Which has the larger area, the Upper Mississippi or the 
Ohio ? Compare the states drained by the one and the 
other together. Which has the larger or more important 
tributary streams ? For example the Tennessee Kiver is 
1200 miles long, the Illinois is 500 and each is navigable 
about one-half of its length. Which has the greater forest 
areas, the Upper Mississippi or the Ohio Valley ? What 
are the great agricultural products of the two sections ? 
How do the chief cities of the Ohio Valley compare in size 
with those of the Upper Mississippi ? There are seven 
cities in the Ohio Valley with 100,000 or more population 
each, and with a total population of 1,505,000. In the 
Upper Mississippi Valley there are but two cities, St. Paul 
and Minneapolis, with more than 100,000 each and the 
sum of their population is 375,000. An examination of 
these figures will show tliat along the Ohio River 



Tllh: OHIO lUVKi: VALI.h:Y ir)'>, 

tliere is a iiiucli deiiser popuhitioii tiniii jiloiig the Missis- 
sii)pi. Why '/ Which of tliesc valleys has greater s(^(Mii(j 
attractions, and more phices of historic^al iritcn'Cist? In tlu? 
Ohio Valley are the mountain g"or^(is of tin; Alle^li(my 
and MonoJigahehi, the Kanawha, Cumbc^rland, Tennessee, 
and other rivers rising in the western ridgc's of tlie Alh;- 
ghanies and Chautaucjua Lake ; there are also Mammoth 
(Jave, the falls at Louisvilh^, tlu; hliiffs and iiilis along tlic^ 
l)[)per Ohio, tli(i Indian mounds, the valh^ys of east(;i-n 
Tennessee and middle Tenness(M;, (Chattanooga and hook- 
out Mountain, Fort DoiKilson and l^'ort Henry, Cunil)er,- 
land (jla[), and oth(ir placM^s of histori(^a] iiil'M"(5st. Along 
the lJpi)er Mississi{)pi are Lake P(5[)in, Fort Snelling, 
Minnehaha, the falls at Minneapolis, the lake region at the 
sources of the Mississippi, Mille I^a(;, tluMlalhiS of the Wisr 
cousin, the great j)i])e-ston(; cpiariy, and IIk; hluffs along 
the Mississippi ; also Starved liock, Utica, and P(3oi*ia along 
the Illinois. 



MINNEAPOLIS 

Why has Minneapolis grown in a few years to be such 
an important city ? It is but ten miles from the centre of 
Minneapolis to the centre of St. Paul, and the city of St. 
Paul was large and prosperous as a trading point and 
capital long before Minneapolis was thought of. In 1849, 




Fig. 47. 

St. Anthony Falls, in the Mississippi, around which Minneapolis has grown. 
These falls furnish power for a number of great flour-mills. 



the first settler staked off his claim at Minneapolis near 
the falls. In 1890 the city had 164,700 people. This is a 
very marvellous growth and must be based upon very im- 
portant and far-reaching facts. St. Paul, for many years 
in its early history, was a place for the white settlers and 
traders to meet the Indians. Before the war the agricul- 
ture of Minnesota was not much developed, and the lumber 
business also was scarcely begun. But when railroads 
began to reach out to the prairie regions west of Minne- 
apolis and St. Paul, and as great numbers of settlers came 

154 



MINNEAPOLIS 



155 



in from the eastern states and the Scandinavians and Ger- 
mans from Europe, Minneapolis began to grow. 

The falls at St. Anthony were long noted for their 
beauty and grandeur before cities grew up beside them. 
Of course the water-power was looked upon as of great 
value and when the pine logs began to be cut out of the 
northern forests and floated down the upper river, it was 
found that these falls were the best location for mills to 
saw up the logs. At first the water-power was chiefly 



■ , 






,1 -^igsSi^ 






"^ ;'^ 


.-^S'^.^^BB^^^^^^^P'^^^ • ^■ifMVr.i^ll.^Tv-?^^ 





Fig. 48. 
Lumbermen engaged in floating logs down-stream from the forest. 

used by the sawmills, and as the prairie regions to the 
Avest settled up there was more demand for lumber for 
building purposes. In order to distribute this lumber and 
other products of the prairie country to the west, railroads 
were built branching out from Minneapolis. As this busi- 
ness of logging and lumbering grew, the whole Up2)er 
Mississippi with its tributaries became a network of rivers 
and logging camps for collecting logs to the mills at 
Minneapolis and other mill towns on the river. The 
large lumber firms had big sawmills at Minneapolis and 



]56 TYPE STUDIES 

thousands of acres of timber lands in the woods to the 
north, with their lumber camps in winter and their rafting 
steamers for guiding the log rafts south at the time of the 
spring floods. Many of the wealthiest men and companies 
of Minneapolis and other river cities have acquired their 
fortunes in this business and have built them splendid 
homes in St. Paul and Minneapolis. Closely connected 
with the sawmills are the planing-mills for preparing 
dressed lumber, doors, sashes, and interior finish. _ Large 




Fig. 49. 

Logs in the river near Minneapolis. One of the bridges across the Mississippi 
River at this point is seen in the background. 

factories were also established for the manufacture of 
furniture, agricultural implements, wagons and carriages, 
cooperage, and other kinds of woodwork. All these lum- 
ber products were then shipped westward over the diverg- 
ing railroad lines into western Minnesota, the Dakotas, 
Iowa, and Nebraska. This rapidly growing prairie region, 
extending even to the Rocky Mountains and from Missouri 
to British America, demanded a vast amount of lumber for 
its rapidly developing cities and farms. It is evident, 
therefore, that Minneapolis, because of its position on the 
river, water-power, and mills, should soon be the great cen- 



MINNEA POLIS 157 

tre of the lumber business of the northwest. It collected 
logs from a large forest area on the Upper Mississippi, 
worked over this raw material in the sawmills, planing- 
mills, and furniture and other factories, and, by means of 
the many railroad lines spreading out westward, distrib- 
uted this vast product over a very extensive region of 
prairie country. It is also clear that this important lum- 
bering industry led thousands of people to find homes in 
MinneajDolis and to build up the city. 

As western Minnesota was rapidly settled up with in- 
dustrious farmers, who raised great fields of wheat, oats, 
barley, corn, and other grains, besides thousands of cattle 
and hogs, they naturally shipped their grain and other 
produce over the railroads to Minneapolis. It was not 
long before the rich soil of the western prairies and river 
valleys was found to be one of the best and largest wheat- 
growing regions of the world. Not only are tlie rich 
upland prairies of southern and western Minnesota very 
fruitful in grain, where thousands and even millions of 
acres are yellow with waving grain in July, but the Red 
River Valley of the north is extremely fertile and favor- 
able to wheat. " Close to the doors of the Twin Cities 
lies this Red River Valley, considered by some the third 
richest agricultural region in the world. It takes in many 
counties of western Minnesota and the eastern counties of 
the Dakotas. It reaches up into Canada beyond Winni- 
peg, and its southern end is the richer. It is a level 
prairie land of black soil that once formed the bed or 
deposit of an ancient sea. This region pours its wealth of 
grain into the two cities, there to exchange it for merchan- 
dise. The farmers sometimes have raised enough grain in 
one year to pay for their farms. One farmer made 
$30,000 in one season." 



158 



TYPE STUDIES 



There are 8,832,000 acres in tlie valley, and in 1891 
only about one-third was under cultivation, not all in 
wheat, but 30,000,000 bushels of wheat were grown, 
worth about 8^27,000,000. Most of the wheat of the 
northwest finds its way to Minneapolis, where the big 
mills convert it into flour. In 1871 only two car loads of 
wheat were received in Minneapolis. In 1887 the Great 

Western Rail- 
road brought 
33,000,000bush- 
els to the flour- 
mills. Ofcourse 
a large part of 
this wheat was 
ground up into 
flour, put in 
sacks or barrels, 
and shipped 
east ward by way 
of Duluth and the lakes, or by way of Chicago, to New 
York and eastern states. A very large part of the flour 
made in Minneapolis is sent in ship loads to Liverpool or 
Hamburg, in Europe. The great railroad lines from the 
Twin Cities to Duluth and Chicago send long train loads 
to the east and to Europe, where millions of people make 
bread from Minneapolis flour. 

It is found, therefore, that Minneapolis is the great cen- 
tre of trade and manufacture in a second important staple 
product, ivheat; that it collects this product from a broad 
area by means of railroads, manufactures it in the big 
flour-mills, and then distributes it over the eastern states 
by means of railroads and water ways, and even sends 




Fig. 50. 
The Pillsbury-Wasliburn flour-mills at Minneapolis. 



MINNEAPOLIS 159 

millions of dollars' worth of food to England, Germany, 
and other European countries. This vast business of 
wheat and flour milling also collects thousands of people 
in Minneapolis, who build homes there, and many of the 
wealthy men of the northwest have based their fortunes 
upon this great business. 

There is still a third line of business in Minneapolis 
that is as important as the two already described. Manu- 
factured goods of all kinds, as dry-goods, machinery, 
clothing, instruments, tools, paper and books, medicines, 
groceries, china and porcelain, hardware, farm implements, 
cutlery, and a hundred other important manufactures of 
the eastern states and Europe are shipped to the trading 
and wholesale houses of Minneapolis and St. Paul, whence 
they are sent out over the railroads and distributed to the 
prairie and even mountain regions to the west and north- 
west. This immense trade centres in jNIinneapolis and 
St. Paul, which thus make a great depot for the collection 
and distribution of products. The handling, sale, and 
shipment of all these manufactured goods call another 
large class of people to the Twin Cities, and give the great 
railroad lines a large share of their business. 

As a result of the description of the lines of trade and 
commerce centring in Minneapolis, we are able to see 
partly the reason for its rapid growth and its great im- 
portance. It is easy to see that Minneapolis not only has 
a fine location on the river, which naturally makes it the 
centre of the lumber trade, and a vast water-power that 
makes milling cheap and profitable, but that by means of 
the river and tlie railroads it is brought into the closest 
relations with the extensive pineries of tlie north, the fer- 
tile prairies and river valleys of tlie northwest, and with 



160 TYPE STUDIES 

the great centres of manufacturing and population in the 
east. The lake ports, Duluth, Milwaukee, and Chicago, 
enable it to send goods with small expense to New York 
and Europe. The Mississippi River on the south brings 
St. Paul in close communication by boat and cheap freight 
with the whole Mississippi Valley from Louisiana to Pitts- 
burg and Kansas City and farther. In early days this 
connection of St. Paul with the river was very important, 
as nearly all heavy goods reached St. Paul by boat, but 
since the railroads have become so important the river 
trade has grown less. 

We have already seen that Minneaj)olis was a naturaL 
centre for the manufacture of lumber and flour, but after; 
these great industries were well started, many other large: 
manufacturing plants became established, such as boot -and; 
shoe factories, furniture and wagon shops, smelting works, 
packing houses, and car works and machine shops, as .well 
as many smaller inanufacturing industries. The result is, 
that though of so short a growth Minneapolis has already 
become a centre for very large manufacturing interests, 
and the products are shipped to the broad regions of the 
west that Minneapolis supplies. These industries also 
have contributed to the rapid growth and wealth of the 
city. It should be remembered also that hundreds of 
thousands of settlers, seeking farms and homes, have come 
from New England and the northern states as well as from 
England and Scandinavia to develop the country and in- 
crease its population and wealth. 

Besides all these wide-reaching influences, the city has 
a beautiful and elevated location above tlie river, witli the 
best of drainage, with a natural forest tliat still shades 
much of tlie city, and lialf a dozen beautiful lakes and fine 



MINNEAPOLIS 161 

parks within tlie city limits or near them. The streets of 
the city have been Laid out on a broad, liberal plan, and 
the street-car service is excellent. Many very fine public 
buiklings and business blocks adorn the principal streets. 
The public library, with forty thousand volumes, is an 
elegant and imposing structure. The Guarantee Loan 
Building, fourteen stories high, is one of the finest build- 
ings in America. The State University, on the east bank 
of the river, and other public institutions are on the 
same grand scale. It is a very healthy city, and is 
especially noted for its great number of pleasant homes. 

The citj^ of St. Paul, only ten miles away, is not ex- 
celled by Minneapolis in progressive spirit and enterprise. 
It is especially the centre of tlie wholesale trade of the 
northwest, and has excelled Mimieapolis in the extent 
and variety of manufactures. Some of its streets of ele- 
gant residences along the bluff are among the finest in 
America. Its business streets near the river are some- 
wliat narrow and cramped, but farther up along the bluffs 
the city is laid out on a generous plan. 

It has been tliought that these two cities would some 
day join their forces and make one great city. Already 
their suburljs touch each other, but tlie rivalry between 
them is very lively and sometimes bitter. It is estimated 
that before many years the two cities will contain a million 
people. 

In conclusion, it will be profitable to compare ]\Iinneap- 
olis and St. Paul with other great centres of trade in our 
own country which are somewhat similarly located. Pitts- 
burg and Allegheny city, especially, at the head of regu- 
lar steamboating on tlie Ohio, may well be compaivd with 
tlie I'win Cities of Minnesota. Pittsburof is also the cen- 



162 TYP^ STUDIES 

tre of vast exchanges of raw products and of manufactures 
from these products. Water and railway traffic are also 
equally well illustrated. Minneapolis and St. Paul are 
far away from the coal supply, and that has somewhat 
hindered the growth of manufactures. How is coal ob- 
tained cheapest in St. Paul and Minneapolis? It may be 
well also to locate on the map carefully the great wheat 
and lumber districts that are tributary to St. Paul and 
Minneapolis and to draw in outline the states included. 
Compare these also witli the corn belt and the prairie 
regions farther south. Kansas City is also a place of 
modern growth that may Avell be compared as to its advan- 
tages with Minneapolis. It also controls the trade of a 
large area and collects and distributes products on an ex- 
tensive scale. Later, when we come to study the eastern 
states, the Twin Cities may also be compared with Albany 
and Troy, at the head of navigation on the Hudson. 

A full and detailed description of a single great trade 
centre like Minneapolis will enable the children to see the 
causal influences which have really produced a great city. 
The lines of traffic cross each other in different directions, 
and they see that where raw products are collected in 
such vast quantities manufacturing naturally follows. 
Minneapolis is an excellent type of these things, and 
stands out with sufficient distinctness to make these ideas 
apparent. As they study other cities in their later lessons 
they will be inclined to look for the causes which make 
and keep alive the importance of great cities. 

Refekenck : Harper's Mcujazine^ March, 1892, '' The Capitals of 
the Northwest." 



LAKE SUPERIOR 

" Lake Superior is the largest lake in the world, 
and the largest body of fresh water. It is 380 miles 
in length, and 160 miles across at the widest part. Its 
watery area of 32,000 square miles proves it to be the 
size of the state of Indiana, or four times as big as 
Massachusetts. It is about 600 feet above the sea-level; 
but the government charts show that in its deepest 
parts the water has a depth of 1386 feet, so that there, 
at least, the bottom of the lake is more than 700 feet 
below the level of the sea. North of Keweenaw Point, 
on the south side, there is a depth of 1008 feet, and 
great depths, above 500 feet, are scattered all about 
the lake. Its shore line is 1500 miles in length." 

The lake fills a great basin, which has a high, rocky 
rim all about it. The short, steep slope is toward the 
lake, while the long, gradual slope, after reaching the 
summit of the ridge, is away from the lake. ]\Iore 
than 200 small rivers pour their waters into Lake Su- 
perior, but they are mostly short, with swift, foaming 
currents as they come tumbling over the rocks, down 
the steep slopes of the country surrounding the lake. 
These rivers are not larQ^e and smooth enoucrh for boat- 
ing, but they supply splendid water-power for mills, which 
will be used in time. Tlie St. Louis River, at the head of 
Lake Superior, is one of tlie largest of these streams, and 
is often spoken of as the source of tlie St. Lawrence. 
This river makes some big leai)s and falls as it descends 



164 



TYPE STUDIES 



the rocky ledge between the phiteau of Minnesota and the 
lower level of the lake. The rivers tributary to Lake Su- 
perior drain a territory of 53,000 square miles, or nearly 
as large a space as Illinois. 

The shores of the lake are very rocky, and only in a 
few places are there sandy or level beaches, especially 
along the southern shore. Along the north shore the 

steep, rocky 
cliffs rise a thou- 
sand feet or 
more above the 
water, and the 
lake is deep at 
their base. 
There are also 
many deep bays 
and harbors 
along this north- 
ern shore. The 
steep cliffs and 
deep Avater and 
bays of this 
northern coast 
make the shore scenery of the lake grand and impres- 
sive like that of the ocean on rocky shores. Along 
the central part of the southern shore, where the lake is 
widest, are the high sandstone cliffs known as the pic- 
tured rocks. As the winds and storms of the north drive 
across the lake, the great waves beat upon this southern 
shore with much fury and have washed out and chiselled 
the rocks into many curious and interesting shapes. The 
sand and gravel have also been piled up beyond the shore 




Fig. 51. 
Wave-cut cliff with beach in small bay, Lake Superior. 



LAKE SUPERIOR 165 

line ill Avhite hills two and three hundred feet high. The 
sliores on all sides are clothed with dark evergreen 
forests, which extend far northward into Canada and 
southward into Wisconsin and Michigan. As the shores 
for many liiiles are not settled, fine hunting is still met in 
these wildernesses of forests and streams. 

"At present there are trout a plenty in the streams 
that flow into the great lakes through the beautiful for- 
ests which clothe that enormous tract, in which, south of 
Superior alone, there are said to be 500 or 600 little lakes. 
Exactly like it, from the sportsman's point of view, is the 
region north of the lake, Avhere the land looks, upon a 
detailed maj:), like a great sponge, all glistening with 
Avater, so crowded is its surface with lakes and streams. 
In the north are the caribou and all the animals that the 
fur traders of the Hudson Bay Company value. South of 
the lake there are no animals larger than the deer, but 
deer are abundant and bear are still numerous. In the 
fishing season a man may feast on trout, black-bass, 
pickerel, maskalonge, partridge, venison, and rabbit. 

''The city of Marquette, on Iron Bay, in the centre of 
tlie most picturesque part of the south shore, gets its im- 
[)ortance as a shipping port for ore and lumber, but it oc- 
cupies the most beautiful site and is tlie most beautiful 
town, as seen from the water, of all those that have grown 
up on the lake. It has a large and busy trading district 
on tlie sandy sliore of the lake, but the fine residence 
districts surmount a higli bluff which lialf encircles the 
town. Ridge Street, two hundred feet above the lake, 
may easily become one of the finest avenues in America, 
and already it numbers some of the most artistic and costly 
liouses in tlie Lake Su[)eri()r region. With its drives 



166 TYPE STUDIES 

and neighboring forests, with its fishing streams and lake, 
it deserves to rank as a summer resort." Presque Isle 
Park, on a high rock promontory overlooking the lake, 
with a forest above and the steep rocks below, is hol- 
lowed out into caves which a boat may enter from the 
lake. The Pictured Rocks also are only a short dis- 
tance east of Marquette, so that this entire region is 
one of great interest. This southern shore is also very 
important on account of the great iron mines in the 
Marquette range (seventy-two in number) and the large 
copper mines in the Keweenaw peninsula. The largest 
ore docks in the world are seen at Marquette. 

There are also many islands in the lake which add to the 
interesting scenery. '^Numerous islands are scattered 
about the north side of the lake, many rising precipitously 
to great heights from deep water, some presenting castel- 
lated walls of basalt, and others rising in granite peaks 
to various elevations up to 1300 feet above the water" 
(Encyclopi3edia Britannica). The northern shore is also 
rocky and steep. " Its famed and stately walls of rock 
delve straight downward into the water and rise sheer 
above it without giving nature the slightest chance to 
make a litter of dirt and rocks at their feet. While other 
rocky shores of other waters stand apart or merely wet 
their toes in the fluid, those monsters wade in neck-deep 
and only expose their heads in the sunlight, sometimes 200 
fathoms from the bottom. Terrible prison walls these 
become to the shipwrecked mariners, for they extend in 
reaches sometimes twenty-five miles long without offering 
a finger-hold for self-rescue. The largest of the islands 
is a part of the United States. In fact the greater part of 
the lake itself belongs to the United States, although the 
northern part goes with Canada." 



LAKE SUPERIOR 167 

The fisheries form an important business on the shores 
and islands. " The hike and the vast region around it are 
the sportsman's paradise and a treasury of wealth for those 
who deal in the products of the wilderness, — furs, fish, 
and lumber. At little Port Arthur alone (on the north 
shore) the figures for the fishing industry for the market 
are astonishing. In 1888 the fishermen there caught 500,- 
000 pounds of whitefish, 360,000 pounds of lake-trout, 
90,000 pounds of pickerel, 48,000 pounds of sturgeon, and 
30,000 pounds of other fish, or more than a million pounds 
in all. They did this with an investment of 1)3800 in 
boats and ^1^10,000 in gill and pound nets. This yield 
nearly all went to the Chicago Packing Company, and it is 
in the main Chicago and Cleveland capital that is con- 
trolling lake fisheries. The whitefish, in the opinion of 
many, is the most delicious fish known to Americans. The 
lake-trout are mere food ; they are peculiar to our inland 
waters, they average five to ten pounds in weight, and yet 
grow to weigh a hundred and twenty pounds " (^Harper's 
Magazine^, 

The fish are caught in nets, and, by the use of small- 
meshed nets, the fishermen claim that millions of small 
fish are killed each year and the fishing is thus being seri- 
ously damaged. Tlie fish commission has been trying to 
cultivate greater numbers of the best fish by putting '' fry" 
yearly into the lakes. This, however, it is claimed, does 
not repair the damage done by the use of small-meshed nets. 

The water of the lake is clear and cold at all seasons. 
It is almost ice cold in summer, so that sailors and fisher- 
men are quickly chilled by falling into it ; but in winter it 
does not freeze over, so great is the quantity of water and 
so slowly does it change its temperature. The water is so 



168 



TYPE STUDIES 



clear that one can easily see objects at a cleptli of twenty 
feet, and the sailors claim even to a depth of forty feet. 
When the water is shallow it is distinctly green ; but in 
deep waters it changes to blue when seen at a distance, 
and it has varied hues and colors according to the changes 
of the atmosphere and sunlight. 

''One peculiarity of Lake Superior cannot be too 
strongly dwelt upon or exaggerated. That is its purity, — 
the wonderful clearness and freshness of it and of its at- 
mosphere and of its bor- 
ders. It must become the 
seat of a hundred summer 
resorts when the people 
visit it and succumb to its 
spell." Already two of its 
summer resorts have be- 
come famous, Munising 
and Nepigon, wliile there 
is room and opportunity 
for many more along its fifteen hundred miles of rocky 
and forest-covered coast-line. 

Within the last few years the commerce of the lake has 
grown into very great importance. The lake surface Jies 
twenty-two feet higher than Lake Huron and Lake Michi- 
gan, and until a canal and lock were built to connect the 
commerce of Lake Superior with that of the other lakes 
little could be done to develop the trade of Lake Su- 
perior's cities. " As originally built, the canal in St. 
Mary's River was a mile long, had a width of one hun- 
dred feet at the water line, and a depth of twelve feet. 
The locks were two in number, each three hundred and 
fifty feet in length, seventy feet in width. At the time the 




Fig. 52. 
A lake steamer. 



LAKE SUPEIilOR ^ 1G9 

canal was made tliese dimensions were sufficient to pass 
any vessel on tlie lakes fully laden, but by 1870 it became 
necessary to provide for more rapid lockage and for the 
passage of larger vessels. Accordingly the old canal Avas 
widened and deepened and a new lock constructed five hun- 
dred and fifteen feet long and eighty feet wide. There is 
now everywhere a navigable depth of sixteen feet from 
Lake Superior to Lake Huron. In 1883 the registered 
tonnage passing the canal was 2,012,295 tons." 

"The date of the last enlargement of the lock is the 
date upon which to base all computations as to the lake 
traffic. The lock was enlarged and newly opened in 1881. 
Marquette, the ' Queen City of Lake Superior,' is an old 
place of former industry, but it is a mere baby in its pres- 
ent enterprise. Superior dates from 1852 ' on paper,' but 
from 1881 in fact, while Duluth is only a few years older. 
Port Arthur, the principal Canadian port, owes itself to 
the Canadian Pacific Railway, now about seven or -eight 
years of age (1892), and many of the future cities are not 
yet discovered" QHarpers Magazine^ April, 1892). The 
Canadians have also built a canal on their side of the 
strait, so as to be independent of the United States. In 
1890, 9,000,000 tons of shipping passed through the 
strait. But the increase of shipping was so great that 
Duluth and other lake ports were greatly dissatisfied be- 
cause of insufficient lockage. In 1890 the depth of the 
water in the canal was from 14 1 feet to 15 j feet. The 
new government lock, built at a cost of $4,000,000, is 
100 feet wide, 21 feet deep, and 1200 feet long. On ac- 
count of an accident to the old lock it was closed for a 
short time. It cost the companies who use the canal a 
loss of $1,000,000 and delayed about 183 vessels each way. 



170 



TYPE STUDIES 



Since 1881 a vast commerce has developed on Lake Su- 
perior. The great iron and copper mines all along the 
shores in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, the 
wheat and other grains from the prairies of the north- 
west, loaded into ships at Duluth and Superior, and the 
thriving cities that have sprung up like magic on the 
shores of this great inland sea, have produced an amount 
of traffic that is worth many millions of dollars. Duluth 




Fig. 53. 
A lake boat loading with iron ore at the docks. 

has been regarded as a second Chicago and as a city with 
a great future. It lies much nearer the great wheat- 
fields than Chicago and 500 miles nearer the Pacific Ocean 
at Puget Sound. The Canadian and Northern Pacific 
railroads lead directly to Lake Superior at Duluth and 
Port Arthur. 

The whaleback steamers at Duluth and Superior are 
loaded with wheat for Buffalo. One of them even passed 
through the Welland Canal and down the rapids of the 
St. Lawrence to Liverpool. The great ambition of the 



LAKE SUrKRIOR 171 

Lake Superior cities is to secure a twenty-foot waterway 
from Dulutli to the Atlantic Ocean, so that large vessels 
of 6000 tons burden can sail directly for Europe. From 
Marquette, Duluth, and other cities of J^ake Superior, 
there are shipments every year of millions of tons of iron 
and copper ore, and of wheat. The lumber trade through 
the canal is also very important and the shipment of coal 
from Pennsylvania to Duluth and Superior supplies the 
returning vessels a large part of their cargo. In this way 




Fici. 54. 
Lake vessels, the one in front being called a whaleback. 

Minnesota secures a comparatively cheap supply of coal, 
although the distance from the coal-fields is great. 

The season for navigation on Lake Superior lasts usually 
about eight months, from the middle of April to tlie 
middle of December. Tlie sailor's life on the lake is a 
severe one. The storms are as rough as upon the ocean. 
hi midwinter, although tlie lake is not frozen over, it is 
not navigable, as the shores are lined with ice for four or 
five miles out from the land. '' There are two obstructions 
for whicli Sn})crior is notorious and they rank next to tlie 
ice and still further limit navigation for some lines of 



172 



TYPE STUDIES 



ships. These evils are the fogs and the snow-storms. 
Of these two the fogs are tlie more numerous and the 
snows the more dreaded. In the summer, Dame Superior 
wears her fogs almost as a Turkish wife wears her veils. 
There is a time in August when the only fogs are those 
which follow the rain, but the snow begins in September. 
The Canadian Pacific steamships are only in service from 
May to October, and it is the snow that curtails their 

season. It snows 
on the Great Lakes 
as it does on the 
plains, in terrible 
flurries, during the 
course of which it 
is impossible to see 
a foot ahead, or to 
see at all. It has a 
way of snowing on 
Superior as late as 
June and as early 
as September. As 
for the fogs, though 
thej^ are light and 
often fleeting after midsummer, they are sufficiently fre- 
quent during the rest of the season of navigation to have 
given the lake a bad name among sailors, and I had a 
captain tell me that he had made seven voyages in suc- 
cession without seeing any lights on his route from Port 
Arthur to the Soo." 

Great railroad lines extend now from east to west along 
both shores, the Canadian Pacific on the north and the 
" Soo Road " on the south. Freight is much cheaper by 




Fig. 55. 
A huge grain elevator near the waterway. 



LAKE SUPERIOR 173 

water tluui by rail, and tlio freii^^lit rates by water compel 
the railroads to reduce tlieir rates. '^ Those who have 
made the arguments for the various lake ports show that 
wliereas in 18G8 the rail rate on grain from ('hicago to 
New York was 42.0 cents a l)usliel, it was 14 cents in lSSr>. 
llie water rate fell in tliat time from 25 cents a bushel to 
4.55 cents. It has kept from 25 to 67 per cent lower than 
the rail rate. The value of the waterways to the public 
is illustrated in a startling w^ay by making use of the 
government records of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal traffic 
for 1889. There passed tlirough that canal 7,510,022 tons, 
carried an average distance of 790.4 miles at 0.145 cents a 
ton a mile. The railroads would have cliarged 0.97(5 cents, 
and the lousiness would have cost the public f 50, 000, 000 
more if the railroads had transacted it than was cliarged 
by the boatmen." This gives some notion of the vast 
amoinit of freight on our great inland lakes. Tliirty- 
six millions of tons of freight passed througli the Detroit 
Itiver in one year, which is much greater than the tonnage 
of the ocean and gulf ports of the entire United States. 
A study of tliese trade routes from the (ireat Lakes to the 
St. Lawrence and the Hudson reveals the chief line of 
traffic in the L^nited States, as well as between the United 
States and Europe. 

After studying Lak(i Su{)erL()r in detail it will be in- 
structive to make a brief comparative study of the otlier 
Great Lakes, their shores and cities, their size and com- 
merce. Any good cyclopiedia will furnish sufficient data 
from wliicli to com[jare tin; otlier lakes with Superior. 
The chief lake ports should also be studied and compared 
in their relative importance and advantage for trade. In 
Tilden's "' Commercial Geography," pp. 74, 75, is a valuable 



174 TYPE STUDIES 

though brief treatment of the Nine Lake Ports (Leach, 
She well & Sanborn, Chicago). 

In the later study of geography in America and in other 
continents such a knowledge of our Great Lakes, their 
extent, scenery, climate, commerce, and cities will be help- 
ful and should be called up again in frequent com- 
parisons. 



THE SURFACE OF TENNESSEE 

An examination of the map of the United States will 
show that Tennessee from east to west includes the whole 
slope of the Mississippi Valley, from the highest summit 
of the Alleghany range to the bottom-lands and swamps 
of the great river. In Tennessee and Alabama, also, we find 
the nearest approach of the mountains to the Mississij^pi. 




Fig. m. 

Relief Map of Tennessee. 

A study of the surface features of Tennessee not only 
shows some of the chief varieties of mountain and plain, 
and their agricultural and mineral products, but gives 
them in a series of parallel districts. The Tennessee River 
crosses the state twice from north to south, and with the 
Cumberland gives the state three distinct valleys, with the 
mountains or elevated ridges between. 

The valley of east Tennessee is perhaps the most at- 
tractive part of the state to visitors and travellers. It 
extends from northeast to southwest across the state, and 
is drained by the Upper Tennessee and its branches. It 
is a long, narrow valley, somewliat rough and irregular, 

175 



176 TYPE STUDIES 

at its narrowest point not more than seven miles across 
and widening out to twenty-five miles. This valley has 
the range of the Great Smoky Mountains, or Unaka range, 
on the east, separating it from North Carolina, and the 
lower Cumberland Mountains on the west. This long val- 
ley is a continuation of the great Valley of Virginia, and 
was the home of the first settlers under Robertson and 
Sevier. It is somewhat elevated above the sea, and has a 
cool and bracing climate even in summer time. During 
the Civil War this part of Tennessee remained faithful to 
the Union, and was the scene of many battles of impor- 
tance. Near Chattanooga the river breaks its way 
through the mountains and turns southwestward into 
Alabama. At this point are some noble bluffs and deep 
gorges, through which the river passes, and this was the 
centre of Grant's great movements at one period of the 
war. Both sides of this valley have abundance of iron ore, 
and many furnaces have been established for its reduction. 
Marble is also quarried along the valley, and has been 
much used in the United States for building purposes: as, 
for example, in the buildings at Washington. Tiiis great 
valley has been washed out during long ages by the 
waters of the Tennessee and its tributaries. The upper 
slopes of the mountains are covered with pine forests, 
which yield tar, pitch, and lumber. On the lower moun- 
tain slopes are groves of sugar-maple and other hard- 
wood trees, and red cedar. The hills and mountain slopes 
afford abundant pasturage, but there is only a narrow strip 
of rich agricultural land. The coal-fields also extend 
along this valley, so that the iron ore can be smelted with 
coal obtained near at hand. 

]>etween the valley of east Tennessee and the valley of 




w 






THE SURFACE OF TENNESSEE 



177 



middle Tennessee, Avith Nashville as its centre, are the 
Cumberland Mountains and their projecting highlands 
toward the west and south. This mountain district is 
not so high as the Unaka range, and while most of the 
ridges extend from north to south, some are at right 
anofles to this. ''The Cumberland Mountains stretch 



^4 




i^^L^^^H^H 


m 


im 


>^ .; V,^ 


•^ 




'^^^^ '"**^"'"'""^^T^^^^^2i!T 


wmKE^k 


^^^'J 


^^^^^ .^ 1 ^ w=^ 


^^^H^^fii 



Fig. 58, 
State Capitol, Nashville. 



across the state from north to south, and in the middle 
of the state take a westerly direction, gradually dimin- 
ishing into moderately hilly ridges, enclosing beautiful 
and fertile vallej^s. These mountains occupy in some 
})laces a breadth of fifty miles, and are a prolongation 
of the Alleghany range." This district of tlie Cumber- 
land Mountains is really a plateau, rising in places to 



178 



TYPE STUDIES 



three thousand feet, forty miles wide, and a hundred and 
forty long. It is underlaid with the coal measures, and 
above them lie the later rock strata that were formed 
above the coal-bearing strata. 

In the north-central part of the state lies the rich and 
beautiful valley of middle Tennessee through which the 




Fig. 59. 
Carnegie Library, Nashville. 

Cumberland River flows. Most of the country between 
the Cumberland Mountains and the Tennessee River of 
the west is hilly and broken, but the valley about Nash- 
ville sinks below the level of the surrounding ridges, and, 
in fact, is like a great basin with a rim of rocky highlands 
surrounding it. It is about two hundred feet below the 
level of the surrounding hills and was selected by the 
early settlers at Nashville for its fertility and rich prom- 
ise. The soil of middle Tennessee, as it is called, is 
generally good, producing large crops of wheat and other 



THE SUBFACE OF TENNESSEE 179 

grains, liemp, flax, cotton, and tobacco. In tliis region, 
also, are splendid forests which have been more developed 
in recent years than formerly. The poplar, hickory, black 
walnnt, oak, beech, locns_t, and cherry are found in abun- 
dance, both on the lower levels and on the uplands. The 
lumber industry of Tennessee has grown to much impor- 
tance. 

Nashville, Tennessee, has become noted as a beautiful 
southern city. It has a number of great schools and 
higher institutions and the state capitol, as well as a 
beautiful location on the river. 

The district betw^een the Tennessee and Mississippi 
rivers is more level and is a rich agricultural region. 
There are some low and swampy lands in the northern 
part, and along the lowlands of both the Tennessee and 
Mississippi are extensive cane-brakes, with tall canes of 
great size. The uplands produce cotton, tobacco, and grain 
in abundance. In the lowlands are large swamp cypress, 
sycamore, cottonwood, and swamp cedar. Memphis, on 
a bluff in the southeast of the state, is a great cottoii 
market. It has been scourged twice with yellow fever, 
which was brought up the river in boats from New Orleans. 
Memphis is the chief river port between St. Louis and 
New Orleans. Much of the cotton collected here is 
shipped by rail to New York and other eastern cities. A 
bridge crosses the Mississippi at Memplns and connects 
with railroads to Kansas City and Little Rock. 

The state of Tennessee is naturally a very rich country, 
witli great forests and an abundance of coal and iron in 
its hills and mountains. It lias also a rich soil and large 
navigable rivers wliich make shipments to the gulf or to tlie 
Ohio cheap. But since the war tlie resources of the state 



180 TYPE STUDIES 

have not been rapidly developed until the last few years. 
Large smelting, steel, and iron works have been established 
at Chattanooga and at Knoxville. Mills for the manufac- 
ture of cotton cloth have been established also, and north- 
ern capital and settlers are helping to develop the riches of 
the country. Large companies with extensive capital have 
bought up some of the best forest tracts and are developing 
the lumber business. Many varieties of excellent marble 
have been quarried in Tennessee and are shipped to other 
states. 

One of the curiosities of the surface of Tennessee is the 
great number of deep and extensive caves found in the hilly 
limestone districts of this state. Several of them are miles 
in extent underground, with streams of water flowing 
through them. 

Tennessee is as much broken up and irregular in its 
surface features as any of the states west of the Rocky 
Mountains. It will be well to have the children not only 
draw it in outline, locating the districts clearly, but also 
mould it in sand on the sand table and work out in detail 
its physical peculiarities, studying the maps for this pur- 
pose. 



TRIP ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI 

(From St. Louis to the jetties at the delta.) 

A STEAMBOAT trip Oil the Lower Mississippi from St. 
Louis down to the mouth was formerly much more common 
and popular than now. The steamer itself is a grand affair 
with its great smoke-stacks from which issue clouds 
of black. A writer in Scrihners Monthly for October, 
1874, thus describes a Mississippi steamer : '^ The Great 
Repuhlic is the largest steamer on the river, literally a 
floating palace. The luxuriantly furnished cabin is as 
long and ample as a promenade hall, and has accom- 
modations for two hundred guests. Standing on the upper 
deck or in the pilot-house one fancies the graceful structure 
to be at rest, even when going at full speed. This is the 
very luxury of travel. An army of servants come and go. 
As in an ocean voyage, breakfast, dinner, and tea succeed 
each other so quickly that one regrets the rapid flight of 
the hours. In the evening there is the blaze of the 
chandeliers, the opened piano, a colored band grouped 
about it and playing tasteful music, while youths and 
maidens dance. The twoscore negro 'roustabouts' on the 
boat were sources of infinite amusement to the passengers. 
At the small landhigs tlie Great Rejmhlic would lower her 
gang-planks and down the steep levees would come a pro- 
cession of negroes and flour barrels. Tlie pih:>ts perched 
in their cosey cage, twisted the wlieel, and told us strange 
stories." 

181 



182 TYPE STUDIES 

Up to the time of the war the Lower Mississippi was 
the scene of great steamboat travel and traffic. The in- 
vention of the steamboat by Fulton was a great help to 
the early settlers of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Be- 
fore 1817 there were 8 steamboats on the Ohio; in 
1829 there were over 200 steamboats on the Mississippi ; 
in 1842 there were 600 steamboats and 4000 flatboats ; in 
1847 there were 1190 steamboats, besides barges and fiat- 
boats on western rivers. These figures, though brief, 
show how trade and travel grew on our western rivers be- 
fore the age of railroads. Vast quantities of goods were 
shipped on the rivers east and west, north and south. In 
1842 it is estimated that 1220,000,000 worth of goods were 
carried by the boats on western rivers. Immigrants with 
their families and household goods came west by boat and 
it was the common mode of travel for all. There was 
great rivalry of the companies in building splendid boats, 
and races up and down the river were common. 

A trip in a steamboat nowadays down the Mississippi is 
not so exciting, and trade and steamboat life are not so 
brisk, and yet such a trip is perhaps the best means of get- 
ting some knowledge of our greatest river and the many 
curious and striking pictures it furnishes. 

The main river really begins where the Missouri joins 
the Mississippi, and together they pour their vast flood 
down the broad valley. At Cairo, the southern point of 
Illinois, the Ohio adds its waters to the main stream, and 
from there on the current deepens, the valley widens, and 
the tarlike flood winds its crooked course for twelve 
hundred miles through the soft mud and bottom-lands, 
where no sign of rock is found in bank or bottom, but 
only the ricli silt carried down by the river. 



TRIP ON THE LOWER MISSIS.SIPPI 



183 



The distance between tlie bluffs is from twenty-five to 
eighty or even a hundred miles. From Cairo to Mempliis 
the river hugs the Kentucky shore, leaving the earthquake 
swamp and sunken 
lands on the west side 
in Missouri and Arkan- 
sas. Below Memphis 
the channel crosses the 
lowlands to the other 
side and flows past the 
bluffs at Helena and the 
mouths of the White 
and Arkansas rivers. 
Then farther south the 
current of the river 
sweeps across the low- 
lands to the bluffs at 
Vicksburg, and does 
not return to tlie west 
bluffs. There are vast 
swamps and rich bot- 
tom-lands on the east 
side between Memphis 
and Vicksburg. Below 
Vicksburg there are 
extensive lowlands, 
bayous, and swamps on 
the west side. In the bottoms the land slopes down grad- 
ually away from the immediate banks of the river, so that 
most of the bottom-lands are below the level of high 
water, and are subject to floods unless the levees can be 
made strong and high enough to protect tliem. 




SCALE OF MILES 



Fig. 60. 
The Lower Mississippi River. 



184 TYPE STUDIES 

Starting from St. Louis down the river in March, we 
have more than a week's quiet journey to New Orleans. 
It may be cold and wintry in the north, but 'there are 
great changes of climate before we reach the end. It 
grows warmer ; we find the fields already ploughed and 
planted in Mississippi, and the trees are green. The 
swamp oaks festooned witli gray moss give the lowlands a 
dismal look, and at this season the bottom-lands may be 
flooded. In places along the shore of Tennessee we see 
tall cane-brakes, and on the bluffs sometimes two and 
three hundred feet above the valley are perched the cities. 

''A journey of twelve hundred miles was before us. 
We were sailing from the treacherous March weather of 
St. Louis to meet the loveliest summer robed in green and 
garlanded with fairest blossoms. Eight days of this rest- 
ful sailing on the gently throbbing current and we should 
see the lowlands, the Cherokee rose, the jessamine, the 
orange tree. 

'' Our river pilot must be a man of great nerve and ex- 
perience, not only knowing the channel and all its twist- 
ing courses, but able to detect changes in the shallows and 
currents, and skilful to guide the vessel even at night. 
Mark Twain, in his ' Life on the Lower Mississippi,' has 
given us a vivid picture of the pilot and of steamboat life 
at the time of its greatest importance. 

'' The pilots on the Mississippi and western rivers have 
an association with headquarters at St. Louis and branches 
at Pittsburg and other cities. Each of the seventy-four 
pilots on his trip makes a report of the changes or obstruc- 
tions in the channel, which is forwarded from point to 
point to all the others. 

'' In March and April, when the snows and ice are melt- 



TBIP ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI 185 

ing and the spring floods come down from all the great 
tributaries of the Mississippi, the main channel below Cairo 
becomes a mighty torrent. It rises little by little till the 
levees can scarcely hold it back. These floods are not 
frequent, but in some cases they have been very destruc- 
tive, and neither the owners of plantations in the great 
bottom-lands nor the government of the United States 
have been able yet to control the river at such times of 
dansrer. 

''When the rains have swollen its tributary rivers to 
more than their ordinary volume, the Mississippi River is 
grand, terrible, treacherous. Always subtle and serpentlike 
in its mode of stealing upon its prey, it swallows up acres 
at one fell swoop on one side, sweeping them away from 
their frail hold on the mainland, while, on the other, it 
covers plantations with slime and broken tree trunks and 
boughs, forcing tlie frightened inhabitants into the second 
story of their cabins and driving the cattle and swine 
upon high knolls to starve or to drown. It pierces the 
puny levees which have cost the bordering states such vast 
sums, and goes bubbling and roaring through the crevasse, 
distracting the planters and sending dismay to millions of 
people in a single night. It promises a fall on one day and 
rises suddenly the next. It makes a lake of fertile coun- 
try and carries off hundreds of woodpiles which patient 
labor has collected along the banks for the use of passing 
steamers. It makes islands of towns perched on the 
banks. As the huge steamer glides along on the mighty 
current we can see families perched in the second stories 
of their houses. At one point a man was sculling along 
from house to barn with food for his stock. The log barn 
was a dreary pile in the midst of the flood. Tlie swine 



186 TYPE STUDIES 

and cows stood shivering on a pine knoll. As we passed 
below the Arkansas and White rivers, the gig'antic volume 
of water had so far overrun its natural boundaries that we 
seemed at sea instead of upon an inland river. The Cot- 
tonwood trees and cypresses stood up amid the watery 
wilderness like ghosts. Gazing into the long avenues of 
the sombre forests, we could see only the same level, 
all-enveloping flood. In the open country the cabins 
seemed ready to sail away, though their masters were 
usually smoking with much equanimity and awaiting a 
^fall."^ 

The levees built along the bank to keep the water in 
the main channel and prevent overflow begin above Cairo. 
This city is built on a flat, low plain, below the level of 
high water. The levees are strong at this point, so that 
the water does not flood the town, but it seeps through 
the banks and covers the lower ground, making it possible 
to pass through some of the streets in boats. The levees 
are designed not only to prevent the floods sweeping into 
the lowlands, but by confining the current they are expected 
to cause the w^aters to scour out a deeper channel. Before 
the war, when the planters were richer and could control 
their laborers to better advantage, the levees were better 
kept up and the lowlands protected ; but since the war 
there have been several destructive floods, doing millions 
of dollars' worth of damage. There is a levee extending 
most of the distance from Cairo to Vicksburg on the east 
side. The national government has spent a good deal of 
money in surveying the river and in building and protect- 
ing the levees. One chief difficulty is the fact that the 
levees themselves have to be built of the soft mud and 
dirt, which the current of the river so easily washes away, 



TRIP ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI 187 

and the river is constantly eating into its banks and 
washing away at times wliole acres of land. 

Several of the most important cities we pass upon the 
steamer are situated high on the bluifs at the foot of which 
the river flows. The first of these is Memphis, on the 
fourth Chickasaw bluff, and not only holding a command- 
ing position on tlie bluff, but a great centre of the Missis- 
sippi trade in cotton and tobacco. It is also an important 
railroad centre, because of its railroad connections with 
the west and southwest, and with the east. 

Vicksburg, another ^' hill city," is on a great bend in 
the river. The steep streets run up to the terraces and 
bluffs and the city presents an imposing sight from the 
river. The bluffs run back to a higher plateau back of 
the city, and many fine residences are seen on the higher 
terraces. The old court-house occupies one of the highest 
levels, and the old fort, Avith its grass-covered ramparts, 
still stands on an eminence commanding the river, and 
bears marks of the memorable siege. From this old fort, 
high upon the bluffs, one can see the great bend in the 
river, the passing steamers and ferries, and the lowlands 
of tlie great loop, almost covered in high water. During 
the siege of Vicksburg, General Grant tried to turn the 
channel of the river at the time of the spring flood. In 
this he failed, but in later years the river itself made a 
cut-off, leaving the city of Vicksburg several miles away 
from the main channel. At the mouth of the Yazoo River 
is the great national cemetery Avhere sixteen thousand 
soldiers lie buried, and twelve thousand of the graves are 
marked ''unknown." Trees are planted, and the grounds 
are kept tastefully in liouor of tlie soldiers who fell in 
the south. Oak trees have been planted and have grown 



188 TYPE STUDIES 

upon the spot, and vines have clambered upon them. A 
small marble monument marks the spot where Grant met 
Pemberton. Vicksburg was formerly the centre of a 
great steamboat trade with New Orleans, and is still 
important for the cotton trade. 

Natchez also stands on high bluffs overlooking the 
river. It is one of the loveliest of Mississippi towns 
and was once the home of great wealth and of many 
cultured families. That part of the town at the foot 
of the bluffs along the water is known as ''Natchez 
under the Hill, " where the steamboats load cotton. 
The steep road leading up the high bluff brings us to 
a beautifully sliaded, quiet town, with rich and cultured 
homes. Before the war this was a favorite residence of 
many important families, and now these old homes may 
be seen in the midst of abundant trees and blossoms. 
''In the suburbs, before the war, were great numbers 
of planters' residences — beautiful homes with colonnades 
and verandas, with rich drawing and dining rooms, 
furnished in heavy antique style, and gardens modelled 
after the finest in Europe. Many of these have been 
destroyed, but we visited some still preserved. The 
lawns and gardens are luxurious, the wealth of roses 
inconceivable. I remember no palace garden in Europe 
which impressed me so powerfully with the sense of 
richness and profusion of costly and delicate blooms as 
Brown's garden at Natchez. It was also on the bluffs 
at Natchez that the Indians in olden time kept the sa- 
cred fire ever burning, but which went out when the 
white men came." 

Two other great rivers besides the Missouri come 
into the Mississippi from the west, the Arkansas above 



TRIP ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI 



189 



Natchez and Vicksburg and the Ked River below. 
The Arkansas comes all the way across the plains two 
thousand miles from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. 
It is a fine river and is navigable to the Indian Terri- 
tory. The Red River is also important for steamboat 
traffic. Formerly a great raft of driftwood, thirty 
miles long, obstructed the boating above Shreveport. 
But government engineers succeeded in breaking it u}^ 




Fig. G1. 

Loading and unloading goods on the levee at New Orleans. Notice the mules, 
one of the most common draft animals of the South. 



and in opening a passage for boats. ' At the time of 
spring floods these rivers also add their volume to the 
Mississippi and increase the danger of overflow. 

New Orleans, the chief city of tlie Lower Mississippi, 
is built on a great bend in the river on lowlands slop- 
ing back from tlie liigh levees. The levee at New Or- 
leans is crowded witli steamboats loading cotton bales 
and barrels of sugar and unloading tlie cargoes from 
Europe and from the Atlantic coast. Fruits and tropi- 



190 TYPE STUDIES 

cal products are landed from the West Indies and 
South America. New Orleans was originally settled by 
the French and many French names and families are 
still met with. The great French market with its sheds 
and booths, fruits, flowers, and fish, is one of the pecul- 
iar attractions of this metropolis of the south. The 
cemetery is a beautiful park in which palm trees, ba- 
nanas, magnolias, and other fine southern trees abound. 
The graves are marble vaults built above the surface, 
as the ground is so low and saturated with moisture 
that graves are not dug. At New Orleans was fought 
the famous battle at the close of the War of 1812 in 
whicli Andrew Jackson defeated the British. 

The commerce of New Orleans and of the Lower Missis- 
sippi was hindered for many years by the bars of mud 
formed at the mouths of the river. An examination of a 
good map of the river below New Orleans will show clearly 
that the water of the Mississippi has carried down a great 
deal of mud and built up new land far out into the Gulf 
of Mexico. In forcing its way through the mud that has 
collected at its mouth the main current breaks up into 
three channels called the Southwest Pass, South Pass, and 
Pass a rOutre. The flat, marshy land and water about 
these three mouths are known as the delta. '^ The river 
at the head of the passes finds its way to the Gulf of 
Mexico through these different channels. Tlie Southwest 
Pass, the broadest and deepest of them all, trends to the 
right and Pass a I'Outre, the next in size, to the east, 
while between these two and more directly in the course 
of the river is the South Pass. The river just above its 
subdivision is a mile and three-quarters wide, forty feet 
dee}), and carries every minute, Avhen at flood, 72,000,000 



TBIP ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI 



191 



BATTLEDORE I 



B B E T IT 
S O U N D 




IVnSSlSSIPPI RIYER 

FBO.M THE PASSES TO GRAND PRAIRIB 



Fici. ()2. 
Delta of the Mississippi. 



cubic feet of water to the Gulf. Every cubic foot of this 
vast volume of water coutains uearly two cubic iuches of 
sand and mud. Eiunigh earth matter, it is estimated, is 



192 TYPE STUDIES 

annually thrown into the Gulf to build a prism one mile 
square and 268 feet thick. At the mouth of each pass is 
a bar, over which there is more or less depth of water." 
It is not a narrow ridge of mud, but a broad, flat bar of 
sand and mud four or five miles across. "• At Southwest 
Pass the depth of water on the bar is about thirteen feet, 
at Pass a I'Outre it is ten feet, at South Pass, before the 
construction of the jetties, it was eight feet. The crests 
of these bars are not immediately at the end of the land, 
but from two and a half to five miles out in the gulf. 
Through the whole length of the passes there is a deep 
channel (uniform for each pass) about 1200 to 1500 feet 
wide in the two large passes and 600 feet wide in South 
Pass, and the depths are about 50 feet in the large passes 
and 35 feet in the South Pass." 

As the water goes down through the passes it has a swift, 
boiling current and scours out a deep channel and carries 
its mud and sand with it. But when the rushing current 
reaches the broad, shallow expanse of water at the mouth, 
it spreads out and becomes sluggish so that the silt settles 
to the bottom. In this way these broad, flat bars are formed 
and kept constantly extending into the gulf. In the South 
Pass 100 feet per annum, in Southwest Pass over 300 feet 
per annum, were built up. These shallowbars at the mouths 
of the river were a great obstruction to ships going in 
and out. Dredging boats were used constantly to deepen 
the passage at Southwest Pass, at an expense to the gov- 
ernment of 't250,000 a year, but even then they could not 
secure a depth of more than eighteen feet and often less. 
All large vessels, therefore, were hindered from passing 
the bars. 

" Jii 1859 a committee from the New Orleans Chamber 



TRIP ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI 193 

of Commerce visited the Southwest Pass, and found the 
bar blocked with a vessel wliile fifty-five other vessels 
were waiting to come in or go out. Some of these vessels 
had been there for weeks w^aiting for a chance to go to 
sea." Vessels of more than 700 tons burden could not 
pass the bars, but the average vessels of the Atlantic sea- 
board carried from 1200 to 1800 tons. 

It was extremely important therefore to the commerce of 
New Orleans and the south to find some means of secur- 
ing a deep channel to the gulf. 

In 1874 Captain James B. Eads appeared before Con- 
gress at Washington with a plan for building jetties and 
deepening the current at the mouth of the river. He did 
not have the means for carrying on such an expensive 
undertaking, but he agreed, if Congress would furnish 
the money, to secure a channel thirtj^ feet deep, and to 
receive no pay for his own labors till this result was 
accomplished. Many of the ablest engineers were directly 
opposed to Captain Eads's plan, but he explained his ideas 
so forcibly tliat Congress, in March, 1875, passed a bill 
authorizing him to make the attempt. Captain Eads 
desired much to make use of the Southwest Pass because 
of its greater depth and current, but he was compelled by 
Congress to make the attempt in South Pass. 

His general plan was based on the idea of letting the 
river scour out its own channel, and even cut a deep pas- 
sage through the bar beyond tlie mouth of tlie pass. 
Beginning at the upper end of South Pass, he began to 
build a line of jetties on each side of the channel, forming 
thus new banks, narrowing the current of water, compelling 
it to flow faster and scour deeper the channel of the pass. 
First a row of piles was driven down along each side of 



194 TYPE STUDIES 

the pass, but in the water at some distance from the shore. 
In some places the piles were driven in water tliirty feet 
deep. It was found tliat tliese piles formed a firm and 
substantial barrier against which to build up the jetties. 
The piles were driven into the mud at the bottom of the 
channel by means of steam pile-drivers. This double row 
of piles extended in a curve along the sides of the channel 
of the South Pass and across the bar two and a half miles 
beyond to the open waters of the gulf. 

The jetties themselves, Avhich were built along these 
lines, consisted of great willow mattresses, from twenty- 
five to forty feet in width and a hundred feet long. '^ The 
jetties are constructed principally of willows. These 
trees grow in great abundance about twenty-five miles up 
the river, and vary in size from one to two and a half inches 
at the butt, and from fifteen to thirty feet in length." 

The willow mattresses were constructed by Captain 
Eads on the following plan : '' Along the bank of the pass 
were built inclined ways at right angles to the shore line 
and extending back from the river bank about fifty feet. 
The inclines are so constructed that while the ends of the 
timbers are under water at the river they are about six 
feet above the level of the water at the other or shore end. 
These timbers are spaced about six feet apart, and are 
parallel with each other. Boards below hold these tim- 
bers firmly in place. The ways are now ready for the 
mattresses, which are built in the following manner : 
Long strips of board, two and a half inches thick and six 
inches wide and from twenty-five to forty feet long, are 
laid across the slanting timbers, and spliced together until 
about a hundred feet high. If the mattress is to be forty 
feet wide, nine strips are used and five feet apart. Holes 



TRIP ON rilE LOWER MISSISSIPPI 195 

are bored in these strips one and one-eiglitli inches in 
diameter and five feet apart. Hickory pins whose ends 
have been turned to fit the holes tightly are driven into 
these, and wedged and nailed tightly. The pins stick up 
about thirty inches high. Some of the workmen now 
climb upon the willow barge and pass the willows down 
to the other workmen standing on the frame, who place 
the willows in a layer about six inches deep across the 
strips of the frame. Then a second layer of willows is 
placed at right angles to the first, and so on till the wil- 
lows stand above the tops of the pins. 

''' In placing the willows the bushy tops project three or 
four feet beyond the frame. The men then bore holes 
in other strips about forty feet long, place them across 
the mattress, and insert the pins into the holes, pressing 
down the cross strips with levers. Wedges and pins are 
driven into the ends of the pins, and the mattress is done 
and ready for launching. The mattress is easily pulled 
off the ways by means of a steam tug, which tows it to its 
place along the jetty piling. A barge loaded with rock 
is then placed alongside the floating mattress, and the 
stone distributed evenly over it until it sinks to the bot- 
tom. The foundation mattress is usuallj^ from forty to 
fifty feet wide, according to the deptli of the water. Tlie 
courses above it become narrower and narrower until they 
reach the surface of the water, where the average width is 
twenty-five feet. When the mattresses are sunk into the 
river all the interstices fill very quickly witli sediment, 
which serves not only to liold it more securely in place, 
but makes it much more impervious to water." A row 
of these mattress jetties Avas thus built on eacli side of 
the cliannel of South Pass, narrowincf it to about 1000 feet. 



196 TYPE STUDIES 

"When the jetties were nearly constructed, it was 
decided to build temporary spurs or wing dams at right 
angles to the jetties, extending into the channel about 150 
feet. These wing dams narrowed the channel from 1000 
to about 700 feet. The objects in constructing these wing 
dams were : first, to locate the deep-water channel midway 
between the jetties ; second, to hasten the cliannel develop- 
ment ; third, to induce a deposit of sediment and an in- 
cipient bank formation along the channel side of the 
jetties. These wing dams were spaced about 600 feet apart. 
They were built by driving a row of piles out from the 
jetty line and resting the mattress against them, placing it 
on edge." 

One of the greatest difficulties was to produce a deep 
channel through a large shoal at the head of South Pass. 
In order to produce a current into South Pass strong 
enough to scour out a channel through this shoal, dikes 
and dams were run up from the head of South Pass to 
raise the water and secure a more rapid fall. At first the 
result was to turn the water into the other passes, but 
great wing dams of mattresses were built across the chan- 
nels of both larger passes which had the effect of raising 
the water in all the passes and in giving such a rapid flow 
through the shoal as to scour out a channel 40 feet deep. 

From the very beginning of the jetty building, the effect 
could be seen in South Pass by a deepening of tlie channel. 
As the jetties progressed toward the bar, the channel across 
the bar gradually deepened from month to month. From 
May, 1875, to July, 1879, the work went steadily forward. 
At the end of this time there was a channel 30 feet deep 
from the deep water in the river to the deep water in 
the gulf. It was 700 feet wide at the surface and 200 feet 



TRIP ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI 197 

wide at the bottom. To form this channel through the 
bar required the removal of 5,500,000 cubic yards of 
material which has been washed out by the current into 
the gulf. Captain Eads also constructed a very large 
dredge-boat which was used to help deepen the channel in 
a few of the shallow places. 

" At the outer end of the jetties, where they projected 
beyond the bar into the gulf, there was danger that the 
violent storms which beat against these shores at some 
seasons Avould destroy the works. To prevent this, a heavy 
line of stone and concrete was built out along the jetties. 

" At distances of every 50 feet near the outer end of 
the Avork are built spur cribs, about 20 feet square, filled 
with rock, upon which a solid concrete block is built. 
Flanking the work at the extreme sea end are massive 
cribs of palmetto logs, filled Avith riprap and surmounted 
Avith larger rock." 

The success of this great enterprise brought good not 
only to New Orleans but to the Avhole Mississippi Valley. 
It is estimated that the jetties, by partially improving the 
channel of the river, saved the country $1,600,000 during 
the year ending September 1, 1878, by the reduction in 
freights on cotton alone. 

Before leaA^ng the study of the Mississippi Valley, the 
Avhole river Avith its tributaries should be sketched, the 
different producing regions located, the chief marts pointed 
out and compared, the contrasts of climate and production 
noted, and the different kinds of populations and of occu- 
pations clearly perceived. This extensive valley, Avith its 
network of rivers and variety of producing regions, is a 
great, complex type of a river valley Avith Avhich to com- 
pare other great river valleys of the world. 



COTTON AND COTTON PLANTATIONS 

Cotton was a native plant used by the Indians for 
making cloth in Mexico when Columbus first came. The 
sea-island cotton came from Honduras, and the cotton 
plant of the Southern States probably from Mexico. 

The cotton crop of the United States is raised in the 
Sou_tliern States, Texas, Mississippi, and Georgia leading 
in its production. It is grown best in a warm and moder- 
ately moist climate. The summer season must be long 
and not subject to chilly temperatures. The great bulk 
of the cotton produced is of the white varieties which will 
grow anywhere throughout the southern sections of the 
United States ; but the sea-island cotton thrives best only 
in the extreme southern belt, mainly on the islands and 
low coast lands of Georgia, the northern part of Florida, 
and the coast of South Carolina. It will grow higher up 
in the belt, but it does not mature well. 

In many of the Southern States, cotton is the one great 
and important crop. The large plantations are most exclu- 
sively devoted to cotton raising. When a good crop is 
sold at fair prices it enables the planter to purchase all the 
necessaries and comforts of life, but if the crop fails the 
planter is brought almost to ruin. The growth of cotton 
raising in the South is remarkable. 

A good description of a large cotton plantation in the 
South before the war v/^ouFd give us one of tlie most in- 

198 



COTTON AND COTTON PLANTATIONS 199 

teresting and characteristic pictures of southern life. The 
residence of the planter with its broad verandas stood in 
the midst of his extensive fields. The barns and gin- 
houses and the log huts or cottages of the negro laborers 
were near at hand. Hundreds of cotton pickers, men and 
women, under the control of overseers went into the fields, 
and often their plantation melodies were heard as they 
worked. But now the large plantation is frequently divided 
up into small farms and leased to small farmers. Each 
little farm has a cabin and stable where tlie man and 
his family live. Tliey cultivate their farm for a money 
rental or in some cases for a share of the product. The 
owner of the plantation has a store on liis estate where he 
keeps an account with each of his tenants, selling him tools 
and farm implements, feed for his team, seed for the 
planting, and other things. Sometimes a planter hires a 
number of hands to put in his crop and cultivate it as on 
northern farms. 

Constant care is exercised to get the best seeds. These are 
obtained by watching closely tlie growing plants, the yield 
of cotton, and the quality of the fibre. Seeds are selected 
(1) as to fruitfulness of the plant; (2) as to the size of 
the bolls; (3) as to length of staple ; (4) as to yield of lint 
cotton from a given quantity of seed cotton, and (5) as to 
shape of plant, i.e. whether it grows with long branches, 
thus requiring much room, or whether it has short branches 
or none at all. When the cotton is ginned in the fall the 
seed for planting is selected and set aside for the next 
crop. 

In early spring the farmer begins to prepare the soil for 
the cotton crop. It is said jokingl}^ sometimes that it takes 
'' thirteen " months of the year to make a cotton crop. It 



200 TYPE STUDIES 

does take about all the year in one way or another to suc- 
ceed with a cotton crop. Tlie first work in preparing the 
soil is to break the land thoroughly by deep ploughing. 
Soon after this the '' beds " for cotton rows are made. To 
do this furrows are run with ploughs. In rich lands these 
furrows for the rows should be from four to five feet apart 
and in moderate lands from three to four feet apart. In 
these furrows is placed whatever manure or fertilizer is to 
be used on the crop. (In thin lands this fertilizer, under 
favorable conditions, increases the yield of cotton, and even 
in very rich lands it aids, as the fertilizer brings the plant 
to maturity earlier and it thus escapes the frost.) 

To make the " beds," a furrow is first run on each side 
of the furrow containing the fertilizer and afterwards in 
the same way the land between the rows is thrown toward 
the original furrows, until there is only one furrow, which 
is called the middle furrow. When the land is all ploughed 
in this way, it is said to be '' bedded " and it consists of a 
series of long, flat surfaces divided by furrows which are 
the width of the rows apart. The land then stands in this 
condition until it is thought that the weather is warm 
enough to plant the seed. 

In the old way of planting, a man with a horse and 
plough opened the bed by running a small furrow on top of 
it just over the furrow in which the fertilizer was placed, 
and another man sowed in this furrow the cotton seed which 
he carried in a bag or basket ; behind him went a man 
with a horse and plough or harrow with which he covered 
the seed. 

This planting is now done by the use of a cotton planter 
which is a modified plough. It has (1) a small plough 
which opens the bed, (2) a box containing the seeds which 



COTTON AND COTTON PLANTATIONS 201 

are distributed in the furrow by means of a wheel which 
runs on the ground, and (8) a double plough or two small 
ploughs that cover the seed. In this way one hand, a 
horse, and plough can do as much work as three hands, 
two horses, and two ploughs did in the "old way." 

When the ground is warm and moist enough the seeds 
will germinate in about ten days. Usually there are more 
plants than are needed. In about ten days after the plants 
are up, the ground is lightly ploughed and harrowed to 
clear away the young grass and Aveeds around the plants. 
After the plough come the hands with weeding hoes 
with which they cut out the surplus plants and the weeds, 
and grass in the rows. The plants should be left ten 
inches to twenty inches apart according to soil. The 
plants grow quite rapidly in good seasons and they must 
be ploughed or hoed every fifteen to twenty days to keep 
down the grass and to stimulate the growth of the cotton. 
Light ploughing or harrowing is best as a rule. When 
the plant has begun to fruit fairly well, ploughing should 
cease, unless it be of the very lightest character. 

When the plants are about six or eight weeks old the 
'' squares " begin to appear on little stems growing out of 
the main stalk. These '' squares " are hollow, triangular- 
shaped pyramids, which contain the young bud which is 
to produce the bloom. In a few weeks more the bloom 
appears. It is large and creamy white the first day. It 
is of striking appearance, among the green foliage of the 
plant. A field in which there is a large percentage 
of white blossoms makes a beautiful scene. On the sec- 
ond day the bloom is pinkish to red in appearance, and 
the third day it dro})s off, and at its base may be seen 
the young boll. This boll is in the shape of a prolate 



202 TYPE STUDIES 

Spheroid which is sharper and more gently tapering towards 
its apex than towards its base. It is divided into four or 
five elongated cells, which are separated by longitudinal 
partitions of tough fibre. Each of these cells contains a 
'4ock" of cotton, i.e, a number of seeds surrounded by 
cotton fibre. 

This boll soon grows to maturity, when it turns brown, 
or is streaked with brown or red spots. As it dries, the 
pod or boll cracks open longitudinally along four or five 
seams, and the cotton fibre is exposed to view. In two or 
three days it is dry enough to be picked. While this boll 
has been maturing, the plant has been growing rapidly, 
blooms have been appearing, and young bolls have been 
forming, so that you may see all the stages of fruiting on a 
single stalk from the young '-'- square," which can be scarcely 
detected by the naked eye, to open bolls with fibre ready 
to be picked. The plant, with good seasons, makes fruit 
till frost stops its growth. The number of bolls on a single 
plant depends upon the season, the cultivation, the soil, 
the variety of cotton, and other conditions. You will thus 
see that many things affect the cotton crop. Some stalks 
mature 150 to 200 or more bolls, though the average is much 
less than this. It is said that, with a reasonable stand of 
plants, an acre that w411 average ten bolls to the stalk will 
produce a bale of lint cotton. This is above the average. 
The plant is subject to diseases, as rust, and it is attacked 
by bugs and worms, which sometimes destroy the crop. 

There are three kinds of worms that often destroy the 
cotton plants ; the cutworm eats off tlie young sprout down 
to the root, the boll-worm gets into the cotton boll and 
destroys the cotton, and the army-worm comes in August 
and strips the plant of leaves and cotton bolls. 



COTTON AND COTTON PLANTATIONS 203 

The cotton boll weevil also, in tlio last ten years, has 
been doing increasing damage to the cotton fields of Texas. 
After spreading north and east from Mexico across Texas, 
it has entered Lonisiana, and now threatens to overrun all 
the cotton-growing states. This weevil punctures the 
cotton boll with its beak and lays its eggs in the puncture, 
where the grubs develop and destroy the cotton. During 
the last few years this little insect is estimated to have 
destroyed $10,000,000 worth of cotton each year in Texas, 
besides the loss to shippers and manufacturers. Several 
of the state legislatures have appropriated large sums of 
money to fight the spread of this evil, and Congress at 
Washington has lately appropriated several hundred 
thousand dollars to find means of stopping its ravages. 

Too much rain will cause to be produced a large plant 
with little or no fruit. If there comes a dry spell, and 
the plant has managed to live through it, seemingly very 
well, and rains suddenly set in, the plant puts on new life. 
In this case it sheds off all young squares, and even young 
bolls, and quits blooming. It goes to work, making more 
stalk and new forms. This is called the second crop. If 
there is time for it to mature, the crop may be very good. 
If the frost catches this crop the yield is poor. These con- 
ditions all vary with the time that the drought strikes the 
crop and the time of frost. 

Cotton picking begins as soon as enough bolls have 
opened to justify going over the field to gather them. In 
the lower part of the cotton belt this may begin about the 
middle of July ; in the upper portions about September 1. 
The seasons cause these times to vary much. In 1902, 
the first bale marketed was about July 20th ; in 1908, on 
August 1. (In 1902, the price paid for the first bale was 



204 TYPE STUDIES 

11 cents per pound ; in 1903, 15| cents per pound. In 
both cases the bales were raised and sold by a farmer in 
south Georgia.) 

The cotton is picked by hand ; no machine has yet been 
invented that can do this work as satisfactorily as it can 
be done by the human hand. Negro labor is employed 
very largely in the production of cotton, especially on 
the large plantations. Many of the smaller farmers have 
enough hands to gather their crops, but where the lands 
are rich and the seasons are favorable a laborer can cultivate 
more cotton than he can gather. Then extra hands must 
be employed, and they are paid so much a hundred pounds 
for picking, sometimes 50 to 75 cents, or more. When the 
cotton has just opened and the seeds are not quite dried, 
a nimble hand can pick 200, 300, and sometimes even 400 
pounds a day. The picking of 200 pounds each day, how- 
ever, is a task which few can do. The average amount 
would not exceed possibly from 100 to 125 pounds a 
day. 

On small farms near the settlements the hands are pro- 
vided with baskets and sacks made of some coarse cloth. 
The hand places his basket at some convenient point and 
picks the cotton, placing it in his sack, strapped to him. 
When the sack is full he empties it in the basket. He con- 
tinues this until the basket is full. It is then carried to 
the cotton-house and weighed, and an account is kept with 
each hand to see what he is doing, and, if he is paid by the 
quantity picked, to determine his pay for the day. By 
keeping an account of weight, the farmer can also know 
about how much cotton he has ready for ginning at any 
time. This picking goes on till the crop is gathered. 
Sometimes a field is 2)icked over many times. In this way 



COTTON AND COTTON PLANTATIONS 205 

we get the best cotton. Sometimes tlie field is picked only 
once, and that late in the fall, sometimes in the winter. 
In this case poor cotton is obtained, it having been injured 
by the weather. The cotton gets stained .sometimes with 
rust, and also by the leaves of the plant wlien they are 
frost-bitten and still moist. 

The loads of sacks are carried to the gin-house or 
place where the cotton fibres are separated from the seeds. 
Before the invention of the cotton-gin it kept one person 
busy a day to separate a pound of cotton from the seed. 
But after the invention of the cotton-gin three hundred 
pounds could be separated in a single day by a single ma- 
chine. The story of Whitney's difficulties and successful 
invention will be found in a good cyclopeedia or history. 
The gin itself has a revolving cylinder with nine-inch 
saws half an incli apart; each saw passes between parallel 
wires seizing tlie threads or fibres of cotton and pulling 
them through, but leaving tlie seeds; quickly revolving 
brushes sweep the cotton from the teeth of the saws and a 
blast of air drives the cotton to a condenser and cleanses 
it from dust. The cotton room of the gin -house is an in- 
teresting place with its great piles of beautiful snow-white 
cotton. 

Before shipping, the cotton is piled into a heavy press, 
wrapped in a stout bagging, tightly pressed, and narrow 
strips of iron are clasped round the bale and fastened. This 
is the press-room, and the workmen are grotesquely cov- 
ered with cotton, as in the gin-house. The cotton bales, 
weighing five or six hundred pounds, are hauled to the 
railroad station, or to the steamboat landing, where the 
stops are regularly made by the steamboats to take off the 
cotton. It is then carried to New Orleans or Memphis, 



206 



TYPi: STUDIi:S 



whence it is shipped by water or by railroad to the great 
factories where it is made into cloth of various kinds. 

The cotton-seeds were formerly of no use, but now they 
are put into presses where the oil is squeezed out, and, 
when purified, it is much used in soap making and as a 
substitute for olive oil. The cotton-seed cake, which is 
left after the oil is pressed out, is also used as fodder 
for cattle, and the cotton-seed meal as a fertilizer. The 



10.3 I lOT^-^-OO-^ 97 
J ^N_E_B^ 




Fig. 65. 

value of the various cotton-seed products taken together 
amounts to millions of dollars every year. 

There are large cotton-manufacturing cities in New Eng- 
land, such as Fall River and Lowell. Much of the raw cot- 
ton is shij)ped to Boston and New York, whence it is sent to 
the mills. More than half of all the cotton is exported to 
England and Europe to be used in their factories and 
then sent out over the world. In recent years large fac- 
tories have been established in soutliern cities, as at Rich- 
mond, Atlanta, Columbia, Greenville, Augusta, Columbus, 
and a number of other places, where the cotton can be 
manufactured into cloth without shipping. 



COTTON AND COTTON PLANTATIONS 207 

The cotton belt stretches from North Carolina to Texas, 
and from Kentucky to tlie Gulf. The climate is hot and 
negroes perform most of the field work. The planters en- 
gaged in the cotton production often depend upon the sale 
of cotton for everything with which to carry on the work 
of the plantation. Tliey scarcely raise the corn and vege- 
tables necessary for plantation use. When the price of 
cotton is low, or when a bad crop comes, many of the 
planters often liave to run in debt or even to sell their 
farms. 

Tlie chief cities where cotton is collected and shipped 
are Galveston, New Orleans, Memphis, Charleston, Savan- 
nah, Norfolk, and New York. The railroads have now 
become of very great importance in moving the immense 
cotton crops of the South. 

Immediately after the war the cotton-planters had great 
difficulty in making the business pay. Wages were high, 
and many rich lands in Texas and Arkansas were planted 
in cotton, so that there was over-production of cotton and 
low prices. The cotton-phmters have been urged to raise 
other crops, as corn, vegetables, grain, and fruit, and to 
feed hogs and cattle for their own meat supply; but they 
have been slow to adopt a variety of crops and iiave 
depended chiefly upon cotton. i\[any of the old cotton 
plantations have lost their productiveness because there 
was no proper rotation of crops. 

On the w^liole, cotton raising is very profitable and is 
the chief source of w^ealth in the South. The cultivation 
of tliis staple in that section began about the middle of 
the seventeenth century, and coarse clothing was early 
made out of the fibre. Before Whitney's invention of 
the cotton gin in 1793, however, the amount of co.ton 



208 TYPE STUDIES 

grown in the Southern States was comparatively insig- 
nificant. In 1820 the entire crop of the United States 
was 455,000 bales, and in 1898 it was 11,000,000 bales. 
About 68 per cent of this was shipped to England and 
other foreign countries. The United States raises about 
two-thirds of the cotton crop of the whole world. 



SUGAR PRODUCTION 



The sugar used on our breakfast table may come from 
several widely separated sources, from Louisiana, Cuba, or 
Germany. Formerly our sugar was obtained only from 
the warm, semi-tropical regions, where the sugar-cane 
flourishes, as in the lowlands of Louisiana or the West 
Lidies. But 
in recent years 
much of it 
comes from 
the beet-sugar 
farms of Eu- 
rope or of 
our Northern 
States. 

A large 
sugar planta- 
tion in Louisi- 
ana illustrates 
the older and 

simpler way of producing sugar. Sucli a plantation may 
have several thousand acres planted in sugar-cane. Near 
the residence of the planter are the sugar-mills, with the 
engines, vats, and machinery, for working up tlie cane 
into raw sugar, the sugar house, and also tlie buildiugs 
for the laborers. 

The sugar-cane is l)est raised in a warm climate, where 
frost seldom comes, and on a ricli soil, usuall}^ in lowlands, 
p 209 




Fig. {)(). 

A sugar-cane field in Louisiana, with the sugar houses 
in the background. 



210 TYPE STIWIES 

Sugar-cane is planted by laying the long stalks in a furrow 
in rows five or six feet apart and covering them. These 
stalks are planted during the summer and the sprouts do 
not gain their full growth till the second year. The fields 
are well cultivated in a rich, moist soil. The canes grow 
to a height of eight to sixteen feet and are from one to two 
inches in diameter. When full grown the stalk and pith are 
saturated with a rich, sweet juice, from Avhich sugar is made. 

The ripe stalks are cut off close to the ground, stripped 
of their leaves, and loaded upon carts or cars, to be drawn to 
the sugar-mill. The roots of the old stalks are covered with 
crushed stalks that have been through the mill and by 
fertilizers. New shoots spring up and grow to full-sized 
stalks, which are later harvested. This process of sprout- 
ing or rattooning may be continued for several years, but 
the product from rattooning gradually declines, and the 
field after a few years must be replanted. 

The sugar-mill, run by a steam-engine, consists of heavy, 
close-set parallel rollers (something like a clothes-wringer) 
between Avhich the stalks are passed and crushed. Some- 
times the crushing power isincreasedby hydraulic pressure. 
The more juice squeezed out, the greater is the amount 
of sugar obtained and the dryer the fuel. The crushed 
stalks are then used as fuel for the engines. 

The juice squeezed from the stalks is collected in a 
trough and then carried by pipes and dropped, through 
fine screens for removing impurities, into clarifiers, which 
are large basins or iron tanks, each holding six or eight 
hundred gallons of juice. Heat is then turned on till the 
juice reaches a temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit, 
milk of lime is added to the juice, and the whole heated 
to the boiling-point. A thick scum forms on top which 



SUGAR PRODUCTION 211 

contains many of the impurities in the syrup. The clear 
juice is tlien drawn off and run into a series of five pans, 
where it is gradually boiled down, the syrup becoming 
thicker as it passes from pan to pan, till in the last it is 
ready to crystallize. In a second series of shallow pans, into 
which it is poured, it is then allowed to crystallize into 
sugar and is transferred to hogsheads placed in the curing- 
house, where the molasses is drained off. This gives 
the brown sugar sent to the refineries, where it passes 
through a series of processes, the result of which is the 
white refined sugar of our tables. 

The above general process, thus briefly described, is the 
old method of sugar making still common on many plan- 
tations and in the West Indies. Several important im- 
provements upon this method have been made, requiring 
expensive machinery and more scientific knowledge. First 
is the process of diffusion by which the canes are sliced, 
soaked, and squeezed, and a much greater percentage of 
sugar obtained. Second is the use of the vacuum pan by 
which the syrup is boiled at a low temperature. Third is 
the centrifugal separator by which the sugar is drained 
of its syrup. 

The raw sugar produced on the plantations is shipped 
to New Orleans or to northern cities, where there are 
great sugar-refineries or factories devoted to the purifying 
of raw sugar and syrup, and where the white sugar of 
commerce in its various forms is the result. 

In these refineries a complex scientific process of treating 
the crude sugar is worked out, which can only be briefly 
indicated. The sugar is again brought to a liquid form, 
is filtered through twilled cotton bags, xand then passed 
through deep layers of animal charcoal to remove color. In 



212 TYPE STUDIES 

vacuum pans tlie sugar is again crystallized and the syrup 
carried off either by filtration or by centrifugal action. 

Improved machinery has been introduced upon some of 
the plantations of Louisiana and scientific methods are 
used by which a greater percentage of sugar is obtained at 
as low cost as possible. 

In addition to the cane-sugar produced in Louisiana and 
in the gulf states, we receive a large amount of such 
sugar from Cuba and the West Indies. The processes of 
sugar production in Cuba are simple, old-fashioned ones 
and are wasteful. 

As a result of the recent Spanish War, Cuba has been 
brought into closer political relation with the United 
States. The chief difficulty in establishing proper commer- 
cial relations with Cuba was found in fixing the tariff on 
sugar, as the sugar producers in the United States were 
not willing to admit Cuban sugar free of duty. 

We also receive much cane-sugar from the Hawaiian 
and Philippine islands, where the climatic and soil con- 
ditions are similar to those of Cuba. Notice on a map 
of the world the latitude of Cuba, Louisiana, Hawaii, and 
the Philippines. It will be observed that cane-sugar 
production occupies a belt in the semi-tropical regions, 
extending perhaps round the world. 

In recent years beet sugar has gained great importance 
for the United States. First, because a large part of the 
sugar consumed in this country is beet sugar brought from 
Germany and costing us many millions of dollars ; and 
second, because in several states sugar beets have been 
successfully raised and harge sugar-beet factories started. 
From the experience of France, Germany, and Austria, 
there seems to be no reason why the United States, with its 



SUGAR PRODUCTION 



213 



rich and varied soil, may not produce as much beet sugar at 
least as it wishes to consume. The people of the United 
States consume more sugar per capita than the people of 
any other country, and it will be a great economy and in 
fact a large source of wealth if we can produce our 
own sugar. 

In the last few years sugar-beet factories have been 
established in California, C'olorado, Illinois, Michigan, and 




Fig. 67. 
Spreckels's beet-sugar factory, Salinas Valley, California. 

other states, and large areas of adjacent farm lands have 
been given to the raising of sugar beets. 

For the raising of sugar beets a rich soil is required, 
and the effort of the farmer is to produce as large a ton- 
nage of beets per acre and as rich a percentage of sugar 
in the beets as possible. It takes about five months to 
raise a good crop of beets. The seed is planted in rows 
about eighteen inches apart and very carefully cultivated. 
The expense of repeated ploughing, hoeing, thinning, and 



214 TYPE STUDIES 

harvesting is great, but the tonnage is heavy and with 
good yield the profits are large. 

In Germany a strong effort has been made by a careful 
selection of seed to procure the largest percentage of sugar. 
The result of these scientific experiments and this care in 
selection is that the beets now raised in Germany produce 
about double the amount of sugar per hundred pounds that 
they did fifty years ago. It is a good illustration of the 
value of scientific farming. 

In the year 1800 when Napoleon was at war with 
England he found his ports blockaded by English ships 
and France's supply of sugar cut off. He offered a prize 
of one hundred thousand francs to any one who would 
devise a profitable method of extracting sugar from beets. 
The French chemists undertook the work, and later the 
German chemists carried the experiments forward ; but it 
was not till about 1840 or later that commercial sugar was 
produced. Both the French and German governments 
gave a bounty on home sugar, and thus a great industry 
was gradually developed which produced hundreds of mil- 
lions of dollars' worth of sugar. 

In the fall the beets are dug, topped, and hauled or 
shipped to the factory. The process of extracting the pure 
sugar from beets is much more difficult than from cane. 

When the beets are first brought to the factory they 
are trimmed and washed and then thrown into a great 
hopper where they drop upon a series of knives which 
slice them into fine chips, almost a pulp. This pulp is 
then thrown into a series of upright tanks or cylinders 
which are closed tight. Twelve of these cylinders form a 
complete series and each holds two or three tons of sliced 
beets. After steaming the beets to soften them, water is 



SUGAR PRODUCTION 215 

let into the first cylinder and soaks the sliced beets, thus 
drawing out the sugar into the Avater. This is called the 
process of diffusion. This sweetened water is then forced 
into the second cylinder where a further process of dif- 
fusion takes place and so on to the eighth, where the 
water has become loaded with the sweet juices and is 
drawn off. The first cylinder is then disconnected and a 
ninth cylinder with fresh pulp is connected with the 
eighth and the water from the eiglith passes on to it. The 
pulp of the first cylinder is removed and its juices squeezed 
out. Thus four cylinders are free at any time for remov- 
ing old pulp and receiving new. 

The water saturated with sugar is now boiled down in a 
manner similar to that described in the case of cane-sugar 
and finally crystallized into brown sugar. The impurities 
in beet sugar are greater in quantity and much more diffi- 
cult to separate from the sugar than in the case of the 
cane. The process of refining raw sugar is about the 
same in the two kinds. 

A study of the map of those parts of the United States 
and of Europe where beet sugar is produced will reveal 
the fact that the beet-sugar production lies in a belt in 
the temperate zone, parallel to the cane-sugar belt, but 
much farther north. 

A third kind of sugar much produced in the United 
States is the maple sugar obtained from the hard or sugar 
mai)le tree. The old-fashioned sugar-camp, with its 
trees tapped and running sugar water from the spouts 
inserted in the lioles bored into the tree is a favorite picture 
with people of the hard-wood forest region. Tlie sugar 
water collected from pails or wooden troughs is boiled 
down in great kettles till it sugars off. The maple 



216 



TYPE STUDIES 



sugar does not require a process of refining, as the peculiar 
flavor given it by the maple tree is its most desirable 
quality and gives it a higher value in the market. The 
sugar-producing forests are in Vermont, New York, Ohio, 
Michigan, and other states wliere the hard- wood forests 
prevail. In Vermont and other northern states where 
sugar camps abound more elaborate methods are em- 
ployed. Sugar-houses with tanks and evaporating machin- 




FiG. 68. 

Old way of boiling the maple sap in the forest to make maple sugar. In many 
sections this is an important industry in the spring. 

ery, pans, etc., are provided. Loaf-sugar and canned 
maple sj^rup are put up in considerable quantities for the 
market. 

A comparison of the three kinds of sugar and their 
modes of production will bring out the fact that they are 
all derived from vegetable growths by extracting the 
sweet juices containing the sugar. Tlie process of obtain- 
ing the juices varies, but the boiling down and crystalliza- 
tion of the sugar in all cq.se§ is the same. The process of 



SUGAR PRODUCTION 



217 



refining and careful purification is common to tlie cane- 
sugar and beet sugar of commerce. 

Tlie production of beet sugar is interesting because it is 
based entirely upon careful scientific experiment, and the 
invention and use of complex machinery. It is only highly 
civilized nations that are capable of working out such 
difficult problems and creating great industries based upon 
pure scientific knowledge. 




Fig. ()9. 
Distribution of sugar-cane and beet sugar. 

In connection witli this topic a study of the map of 
North America and of the world for the purpose of locat- 
ing the three sugar-producing belts is very appropriate. 

This topic like some others is a good type of the three 
stages in the systematic and natural treatment of a sub- 
ject : (1) Agriculture ; the beet farm or the sugar planta- 
tion ; (2) the process of manufacture, including the cruder 
forms of manufacturing on the plantation, the sugar 
factory, the refinery, and the cities which are the centres 
of sugar-refining ; and (3) the commercial routes by 
which sugar is brought to market, and the cliief shipping 
points and centres of the sugar industry. 



A CATTLE RANCH 

Ox the cattle ranches of the western plains are found 
the rough-riders and bronco-tamers, whose free life on 
horseback is so attractive to the boys. The raising of 
cattle on these ranches is the main business over large 
stretches of country. The Great Plains that lie just east 





l^IG. 71. 

Cattle feeding on the Great Plains, where the herds of bison formerly roamed. 

of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Texas are chiefly 
valuable for cattle raising, and it is here and among the 
foot-hills that the cowboys are at home. ^ 

Such a cattle ranch as we are describing lies in a creek 
bottom where there are grassy meadows, and a pasture is 
fenced in for the grazing of the horses. There are scat- 
tered groves of cottonwood along the stream, and near one 
of these groves is a large log house for the owner of the 
herd and ranch. Close by is a long, Ioav house, with 
kitchen and rooms for the cowboys. A blacksmith shop 

218 




Fu;. 70. 

Scene in tlie ranch country. Upper picture, a typical ranch liouse on tlie 
banks of a stream in western North Dakota. Middle picture, a rancli house 
and " the range." Lower picture, a group of cowboys at the ranch house. 



A CATTLE BANCII 



219 



stands on one side of the enclosed lot, and barns and cat- 
tle sheds are placed on the other two sides. A few stacks 
of hay mowed from the bottom-land are seen near the cow 
sheds. A tall windmill stands by the barn with large 
troughs below for the Avater pumped by the wind. 

Low hills line the two sides of the valley, and beyond 
these hills the level and rolling plains stretch away for 
miles without sign of tree 
or even grass ; for the 
short, thin grass that 
grows upon these dry 
plains cures on the 
ground during the sum- 
mer, and the whole wide 
stretch of plain looks 
like a lifeless desert. 

Some men come out of 
the low stable in which 
the ponies are feeding. 
Their broad-brimmed 
liats and fringed leather 
leggings, together witli 
the rough spurs hanging 
to their heels, soon con- 
vince us that we are among the cowboj's. Tliey are 
small, hardy-looking men, thorouglily browned and hard- 
ened by exposure. A saddled pony is brought out with 
a rope hanging to the saddle-l)ow, and a cowboy mounts 
and gallops across the bottom to tlie hills and range 
beyond to bring in a drove of cows. 

A large number of ponies are seen grazing in a field 
fenced with barbed wire. 




Fig. 72. 

A cowboy with his rope, or lariat, with 
which he captures the steers by- 
throwing a noose over their necks, 
or around their lees. 



220 TYPE STUDIES 

The owner of this ranch has a herd of three thousand cat- 
tle, which run at will upon the plains of the surrounding 
region. There are no fences to separate this ranch from its 
neighbors on the several sides, so that the cattle mix freely 
with those of other ranches for a hundred miles or more. 
All these lands belong to the government of the United 
States, which allows the cattle owners to graze their herds 
freely upon the range. Only along the valleys of the 
stream where there are meadow-lands that can be farmed 
or irrigated is the land taken up for homesteading. The 
cattle owner buys up such farms and then allows his 
cattle to range on the neighboring plains. 

During the summer time there is little rain in this 
region, but in the early spring showers start the grass to 
a quick growth, and as soon as the hot weather of summer 
sets in the thin grass begins to dry and cure on the ground, 
and supplies a nourishing food for cattle during the fall 
and winter. In the winter time snow often covers the 
ground, but if not too deep it soon melts away and leaves 
the grass exposed again. The cattle are expected to get 
their own living both in summer and winter from the 
scanty grass on the plains. In the winter, also, instead of 
water they eat the snow, and are thus able to graze far- 
ther away from the streams than in summer. In the long, 
sunny days of summer time the streams are often dry or 
nearly so, but wells have been bored at suitable camps and 
ranch-stations, where water can be pumped by windmills 
and supplied to the herds. 

All kinds of supplies for the lonely ranch are brought 
by wagons from a town 150 miles away at one of the rail- 
way stations. The canvas-covered wagons, loaded with 
food, clothing, tools, and weapons, saddles and equip- 



A CATTLE liANCII 221 

ment, are hauled to the ranch by mules or yokes of 
oxen. 

The owner of the ranch was an eastern man who came 
west with several thousand dollars to make his fortune in 
the cattle business. Buying a small herd of two hundred 
cattle at first, he steadily increased his herd from year to 
year, taking good care of tlie young calves, and only sell- 
ing off the steers which w^ere old enough to send to mar- 
ket. By constant watchfulness over his herd in all seasons, 
and by buying up more cattle with the profits from sales, 
he has gradually collected a large and valuable body of 
animals. He has had, also, the trouble and expense of 
securing good cowboys and ponies for his ranch, together 
with the usual running expenses for board, housekeeping, 
stables, and other incidentals. He also runs the risk 
every year of great losses, from storms which freeze 
the cattle, or from diseases which destroy, or from cattle 
thieves. The owner or manager of a cattle ranch, there- 
fore, must thoroughly understand all the difficulties of his 
business, and be constantly on the watch. 

His chief helpers are cowboys, who receive as wages 
from 125 to $40 a month besides their board and keep. 
The cowboys are usually trained to their work from boy- 
hood. Living almost constantly on horseback, except 
when asleep, they become the most expert horsemen. 
Some of them are wonderfully skilful in riding and mas- 
tering the wildest and wickedest horses. But most of all, 
they must have skill in using the rope or lariat which 
hangs from the saddle-bow. This rope is the most 
useful instrument in the hands of the cowboy. By long 
practice he can swing it around a steer's horns or hind 
feet and quickly bring liim to the ground. In liandling 



222 



TYPE STUJDIES 



the cattle in the corral or in the plains, this use of the 
rope is all-important. 

As the cattle scatter out over the plains, it is the business 
of the cowboys to keep track of them as far as possible, to 
go to neighboring ranches for stray cattle, look after the 
cows and calves, see that water is supplied, and in winter 
shelter them, if possible, from- storms. The cowboy must 
be out in all sorts of weather, exposed to cold and storm 
and hunger, and must be able to find his way over a wild 
and desert region in all sorts of weather, day and night. 




Fig. 73. 

A scene during a round-up, when great numbers of cattle are bunched 

together. 



Twice each year it is the special labor of the cowboys 
to round up the herds over a large region of country. The 
cattle from many ranches liaving become mixed on the 
plains, the stockmen with their cowboys combine to collect 
them. The captain or general manager of the round-up, at 
an appointed time and place, meets all the foremen or ranch 
owners and cowboys from the different ranclies. A wagon 
from one of the ranches carries bedding, food, and a mess kit 
for a dozen or more cowboys, and each cowboy brings to the 
round-up eight or ten tough, experienced little ponies. 



A CATTLE BANCFI 223 

The captain of tlie round-uj) divides up his men into at 
least three hirge groups, one group scattering out fifteen 
or twenty miles on the left, the other on the right, the 
third in the centre, drawing together toward the central 
line of march all the cattle in a strip of country thirty or 
forty miles wide. Starting out before sun-up, by noon 
they are able to bring the different herds together, at one 
large rendezvous. The afternoon is spent in "working" 
the herd already collected. Cowboys from the different 
ranches ride in among the cattle, and by the brands pick 
out their own cattle and, ''cutting them out" from the 
main herd, bring them together. Later the young calves 
and unljranded cattle are corralled, and the branding irons 
are used to stamp them with the owner's mark. Each 
calf has to be caught with the rope, thrown, and lield down, 
while the branding instrument is applied. At night each 
herd is closely bunched togetlier and guarded, and early 
the next morning the two flanking divisions of cowboys 
are sent out again to gather in more cattle, while the herds 
previously gathered move on to the next rendezvous. The 
cowljoys are on their ponies twelve or sixteen liours a day, 
mucli of tlie time moving with speed. After perhaps six 
weeks of continuous hibor the whole territory has been 
worked over and the cattle l)rought together, divided up, 
Ijranded, and returned to their separate ranches. 

A cowboy needs several ponies on tlie round-up. A 
pony is not used more than one day in four, resting and 
feeding between times, as the travel over the rough range 
country is swift and hard. 

Sometimes the nights are cold and stormy, and the men 
bunking under the wagons are drenched with rain. On 
such a niglit the cattle in the lierd may become restless 



224 TYPE STUDIES 

and break away from the guards, scattering over the plains, 
and causing endless trouble in collecting them again. 

During the whole six weeks or more of the round-up, 
the cowboys are employed from twelve to sixteen hours a 
day at tlie roughest and most exhausting Avork ; but in 
spite of this, it is probably the most enjoyable part of the 
cowboy's life. There is no end of fun and banter and 
rivalry among the men from different ranches. While in 
camp, the skilful riders tame the worst bucking ponies, 
and there are plenty of horse-races and foot-races, shooting 
matches and other sports. For months the boys have been 
accustomed only to the lonely life of the ranch, and this 
season of round-up where a hundred or more cowboys 
meet and work and camp together, is full of excitement 
and interest. 

These great round-ups take place at least twice a year — 
in the fall and spring. In the spring round-up the cattle 
are collected after the winter storms and losses, the calves 
are branded, and the herd brought to the home ranch, 
where they are again turned upon the nearer range. In 
the fall round-up the well-matured beef cattle are selected 
and prepared for shipment to Omaha or Kansas City. 
First they are driven to the nearest raih^oad station, and 
there loaded on trains for those great centres of the cattle 
trade. 

All cattle are branded before they are turned upon the 
range. For this purpose the herd is got together in the 
corral or pen, and the cowboy rides in with his rope and 
brings the steer or cow to the ground, the horse being 
ahnost as skilful as his rider in throwing the cattle. Then 
a red-hot iron brand is applied to the shoulder, hip, or side 
of tlie animal, burning the sign or figure into the hide. 



A CATTLE RANCH 



225 



These brands are all registered by the stockmen, and no 
two ranches or stockmen are allowed to use the same sign 
or mark. 

The cowboys are also skilful in the use of firearms, and 
usually go well armed. They are, for the most part, 
quiet and orderly, except when they sometimes collect 
in towns, where they are apt to visit the saloons and 
horse-races and get into street brawls. Men are often 
killed in these encounters, and there is often seen in 
the border towais 
visited by cowboys 
all the roughness of 
frontier life. But 
they are as a class 
honest and skilful 
in their work, en- 
tirely devoted to the 
interests of their 
employer, and to 
strangers friendly 
and hospitable. 

The ranchmen and cowboys have had much trouble 
with horse thieves and cattle thieves. The rough frontier 
is the natural place for criminals and bad men to collect. 
When the buffalo were still abundant on the plains, these 
men found amusement in killing buffalo ; but when the 
buffalo were all gone, they must eitlier turn to some honest 
business or become tliieves, preying upon the cattlemen. 
The cattlemen banded together to put an end to horse 
stealing and cattle thieving and killing. The thieves 
formed bands, w^iicli collected at some hut or hiding-place 
in the foot-hills, where they were pursued and hunted out 




Fig. 74. 

Picture showing the mother with her brand, a 
calf following her, and a cowboy about to 
catch the calf and brand it. 



226 TYPE STUDIES 

by the cattlemen. Battles were sometimes fought, and 
many men were killed in these conflicts between the cow- 
boys and the thieves. When once caught, the thieves were 
hanged, and the western country has now been well freed 
from such criminals. 

The cattle business in the northwest, in Montana, 
Wyoming, and the Dakotas, suffers greatly from occa- 
sional severe winters. Even in Kansas and Colorado 
the winter blizzards have done great damage. The 
cattle of the plains were not protected with barns and 
sheds or comfortable strawstacks, as in the farming 
states farther east. When such a freezing blizzard from 
the northwest strikes in, the cattle can only huddle 
together and turn their tails to the pitiless storm. A 
herd is often driven for miles before the face of such a 
storm. If they come to some impassable stream or deep 
railroad cut, they huddle together till frozen in their 
tracks. The skeletons of dead animals are found thick 
piled in such a place. In the spring of 1872, at the 
close of a hard winter, the herds of western Kansas had 
lost about half their cattle in the severe winter storms. 
In the spring of 1881 the plains at the edge of the 
foot-hills in Colorado were strewn with the carcasses or 
bones of animals that had starved or frozen in the fierce 
storms of the preceding winter. 

When the snow falls deep upon the plains, it com- 
pletely covers the feed, and unless it soon melts away, 
the cattle starve. Cold, sleety rains, which soak the 
hides of the cattle and cover the plains Avith a sheet of 
ice, are very severe. The bodies of the cattle become 
coated with the chilling ice and the grass is changed 
into icicles, so that the cattle both freeze and starve. 



A CATTLE BAXCTI 22 i 

In preparation fur sueli wealliur it is the work of the 
cowboys to drive the herds into sheltered valleys be- 
liind the hills and to find a range where tlie grass is 
still abundant. When cattle have been frozen upon the 
plains, their hides are still vakiable, and the men are 
kept busy searching out the carcasses and getting the 
skins. Tlie losses of the ranch owners durino^ such 
severe Avinters are very discourao^ino;', and men often oive 
up the business. It is also a great pity and inhuman- 
ity to expose animals to cold and starvation in this 
wholesale way. Many men are too considerate and 
kind-hearted to engage in a business \\ liich involves 
such cruelty and suffering. 

Alonoj" the river vallevs, where the meadows can be 
irrigated and a good store of hay secured, it is possible 
in many places to put up stacks of hay which can be 
used to help feed tlie cattle through the severe winter 
storms. In this way small herds can be well taken 
care of throuo-h the winter. Cows with vouno: calves 
suffer most with winter cold and storm. Therefore they 
are kept mostly upon the warmer plains of Texas, while 
thousands of steers, bred on these southern plains, have 
been driven north to spend the fall on the grassy plains 
of Wyoming and Montana. In the same way other 
thousands of young steers from the farm lands of Kan- 
sas and Xebraska have been driven west a few hundred 
miles to feed on the ranges. 

In recent years the great danger of the cattle business 
in the northwest has been the overstocking of the range; 
that is, the collection and increase of cattle on the ranches 
till there is not sufficient grass to feed them and supply 
grazing. When grazing lands have been too closely 



228 TYPE STUDIES 

cropped, the grass dies out, and the land becomes almost 
worthless for range. The cattlemen themselves have 
been compelled to combme and limit the number of cattle 
turned loose upon the plains. A single cow or steer re- 
quires from fifteen to twenty-five acres of land to supply 
sufficient grass. In the rich farmlands of Iowa one or 
two acres would supply enough food for an animal. This 
shows how sparse and thin the western grass is. 

The western part of Texas is most favorably situated 
for the cattle business, and here are found the greatest 
cattle ranches. Wealthy men have bought up or leased 
from the state of Texas large areas of country, which they 
surround with wire fences and use for cattle ranges. 

In the Review of Reviews for September, 1901, Mr. 
Barker says : " Texas is noted for the number and extent 
of its ranches. Of a total of several thousand [ranches], 
they vary in size from a few thousand to several million 
acres, the large ones averaging 50,000 acres. The greatest 
is the 'X. I. T.,' in the Panhandle, which embraces half a 
dozen counties and contains nearly 3,000,000 acres. It 
belongs to the ' Capitol Syndicate,' a company of men who 
received this vast territory some twenty years ago in 
return for providing the magnificent state house at 
Austin. The ranch is divided into seven divisions, each 
managed by a foreman, and each connected with the head- 
quarters by means of telephones. The whole is run with 
the system and despatch which characterize all great 
industries. On this ranch now run considerably over 
100,000 head of cattle, and an idea of its size may be 
gained from the fact that the pasture fence extends 210 
miles in one direction and 25 in another, making a total 
area of about 5000 square miles. From time to time 



A CATTLE RANCH 229 

small parcels of land have been sold, and, meanwhile, 
valuations have appreciated from fifty cents an acre to 
four times that amount." 

The larger ranches usually have about 50,000 acres 
each, and are managed by a foreman, who has a good 
house. There are almost no trees or fuel on the west- 
ern plains of Texas, and provisions and all the neces- 
saries of the ranch must be hauled hundreds of miles in 
wagons. 

The whole range belonging to the ranch is fenced in, 
so that the cattle do not wander at will and mix with 
other herds, and not so many cowboys are needed for the 
care of the stock. The headquarters of one of these large 
ranches is completely equipped Avith buildings for the 
foremen and cowboys, with blacksmith and wagon shops, 
with corrals and fenced lots for the care of the cattle, and 
sometimes with telephone lines connecting different sta- 
tions on the ranch. 

On account of being much farther south, the cattle do 
not suffer much from the cold winters and blizzards. But 
the ranches are more subject to drouths and short grass. 

These southern ranges are also largely used for raising 
cows and young calves, on account of the milder climate. 
But when the young steers are two or three years old, 
they are driven by thousands to the northern ranches, 
where the older cattle can better stand the winters. 

The great ranch OAvners of Texas have also paid much 
attention to the introduction of the better breeds of cattle. 
Thoroughbred cattle from England, the Herefords and 
Durhams, and the Scotch Angus and Galloways, have been 
imported in large numbers, and at great expense, to take 
the place of the longhorn, lean Texas breeds, wliich do 



230 TYPE STUDIES 

not fatten so well nor produce so good meat. In these 
ways cattle raising in Texas has become a very skilful 
and well-regulated business, requiring great experience 
and intelligence, and yielding large profits to those who 
are trained and skilful managers. One man who, almost 
penniless, went into the Texas cattle business at the 
close of the Civil War, by hard work and diligence has 
acquired a great ranch, and is estimated to be worth 
$5,000,000. Nowadays it requires a large capital, both for 
the purchase of land for range and cattle to stock it. In 
New Mexico and Arizona, where there is still a free, 
unfenced range, there are better opportunities for men of 
small capital. 

About one-half of Texas and nearly all of New Mexico 
and Arizona are devoted to cattle ranges, and about six 
and a quarter million of cattle are now found on these 
ranches. 

The lack of water on these ranges has been largely sup- 
plied by bored wells, which are sunk all over a large 
ranch wherever it is necessary to have water for the 
cattle. There are very few rivers or running streams, 
but the rain that falls during the summer is collected 
behind dams and where surface lakes can be found. In 
the region of the staked plain there are many small salt 
hikes, wliich are empty in dry seasons, but filled by rains, 
and they supply an abundance of salt for the cattle. 

There are a number of dangers from which the Texas 
cattlemen must protect their herds as well as they may. 
Among diseases, blackleg attacks young calves and slays 
many. A noxious weed called the loco poisons the cattle as 
opium poisons people. The prairie-dogs do much damage 
by destroying the grass and by digging holes in which 



A CATTLE RANCH 



231 



cattle and liorscis stuiiihle aiid are injured. Rattle- 
snakes poison niaiiy, wliile wolves ajid panthers and the 
mountain lion ravage tlie herds and do much damage. 
Against all these enemies the cowboys and ranchers wage 
unceasing war. 

As before indicated, the region of country devoted to 
cattle ranching extends from Canada to southern Texas, 
and from central Kansas and Nebraska into the Rocky 
Mountains, including a large share of Montana, Wyoming, 
and Colorado, 
nearly t li e 
whole of New 
Mexico and A ri- 
zona, and alxjut 
lijilf of Texas, 
Indian Teri'i- 
tory, Kansas, 
Nebraska, and 
the Dakotas. 
This entire re- 
gion lies in the 
arid belt, and does not receive sufficient rainfall for farm- 
ing, except where irrigation can be carried on in the 
valleys of the rivers. There is, however, enough rain- 
fall to yield the thin grasses upon which the great ranch 
herds are grazed. The cause of this arid dryness or lack 
of rainfall is the presence of tlie Sierra Nevada and Rocky 
Mountains, which catch most of tlie rains and snows 
brought eastward l)y the winds from the Pacific, and this 
leaves the plains to the cast of the Rockies short in their 
rainfall. 

Most of the beef cattle produced upon the plains are 




Cattle l{:iisiiii,' Districts 



t.MTKI) SI ATi;S. 




Fig. 7.1 



232 TYPE STUDIES 

driven to the railway stations and shipped to Omaha, 
Kansas City, Chicago, and other cities. Here are great 
slaughter-houses, where the animals are prepared for the 
market. The fresh meat thus prepared is packed in ice 
and shipped in refrigerator cars to all parts of the United 
States. In the meat markets it is also stored in large 
refrigerator rooms and sold out to customers as needed. 
Much also of this refrigerator fresh meat is shipped from 
New York and other cities to England, and other parts of 
Europe. Packed in ice in the ship's hold, it remains fresh 
for use in London, Paris, and other European cities. 
Many thousands of live cattle are also shipped in long 
cattle trains across the continent to New York, where they 
are transferred to ships and carried to the English market. 
The live animals must be well fed, watered, and cared for 
while on rail and on shipboard. 

While we speak of the western plains as the cattle 
region of the United States, many more cattle are raised 
and marketed from the farms of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, 
and the agricultural states than from the western plains. 
The corn-producing belt is the chief cattle-raising district, 
because corn is the best feed for fattening cattle. In 1880 
New York state had 2,300,000 more cattle than were found 
at that time in all the great cattle ranch region of the 
west. 




^ b 






PIKE'S PEAK AND VICINITY 

Pike's Peak is the central mountain of a group or clus- 
ter of mountains which together constitute a spur of the 
main chain of the Rockies, extending eastward into the 
Great Plain. For this reason Pike's Peak was first seen 
by the emigrant trains coming from the east, and is still 
one of the prominent landmarks for those travelling toward 
the Rocky Mountains. It is surrounded by other peaks 
and ridges which rise far up into the clear sky of Colorado, 
but all are dwarfed by the greater altitude of the central 
peak. It is about seventy miles south of Denver, and its 
snow-covered summit can be clearly seen from Denver 
nearly every day in the year. Except on cloudy or foggy 
days, which are rare in Colorado, it can be seen as plainly 
as if it were only ten miles away. Fifty miles to the 
south of it is Pueblo, the city of smelters on the Arkansas, 
eastward of the Royal Gorge, where the river breaks 
through the mountain ridge. Pike's Peak stands, there- 
fore, like a huge sentinel, with the wilderness of moun- 
tains and park lands at its back and the great level plains 
at its feet to the east, and the main ridge of the Rockj^ 
Mountains a little back, but flanking it on the north and 
south. 

The summit of Pike's Peak rises 14,140 feet above the 
sea-level, but the Great Plain at its base is 6000 feet above 
the sea, and the peak therefore rises only about 8000 
feet above the general level of the surrounding country. 

233 



234 TYPE STUDIES 

The peak was discovered and explored by Colonel Pike 
in 1806, and received its name from him. When gold 
was discovered in Colorado in 1858, the Pike's Peak gold 
region became famous, though no gold was mined in its 
immediate neighborhood. 

The peak itself is not a pointed pinnacle but a great 
rounded swell of the mountain ridge, steep and rocky on 
some of its edges, but with long slopes and spurs reaching 
out toward the neighboring mountain masses. But its 
sides are seamed with mighty gorges and chasms, glitter- 
ing with snow and ice. During the greater part of the 
year the peak is plainly distinguished from the neighbor- 
ing cones by its greater height and its white, snow-covered 
top and sides. '' The summit is nearly level, embrac- 
ing about 40 acres, and composed of angular slabs and 
blocks of coarse, disintegrating granite. It affords one of 
the grandest views on the North American continent, 
extending nearly 150 miles in all directions." But it is 
only occasionally that the tourist can get such a clear 
view from its summit. But to survey at one sweep a 
country larger than the state of Illinois is worth the 
trouble of a mountain climb. Although Colorado has a 
dry, clear atmosphere and rain is infrequent, the moun- 
tain peaks are often wrapped in clouds. The higher 
ridges and peaks draw the clouds and moisture, though 
the plains at their feet may be clothed in constant 
sunlight. 

But Pike's Peak itself is only the most prominent among 
a large group of noteworthy objects in this neighborhood, 
among which are Manitou and Colorado Springs, the 
Garden of the Gods, Cheyenne Caiion, Monument Park, 
Glen Eyre, the Cave of the Winds, besides the foot- 







-^ -^ «3 



PIKi:'S PEAK AND VICINITY 235 

trail and the railroad to the top of Pike's Peak and many 
other mountain resorts and scenic wonders. Many thou- 
sands of people visit the Pike's Peak country every year, 
to enjoy the great number of nature's grand and beautiful 
works. 

Just east of the foot of the mountain, on a level plain, six 
thousand feet above the sea, stands thebeautiful city of Col- 
orado Springs, with its shaded streets, fine hotels, and great 
number of summer homes. Many rich people have built 
here villas and costly cottages for summer residence. 
Electric street car lines reach to Manitou and Cheyenne 
Canon. Six lines of railway run into Colorado Springs, 
bringing tourists from all directions. It has become, there- 
fore, in connection with the various mountain resorts, a 
great centre for pleasure and health seekers from all parts 
of the United States. 

About six miles west of Colorado Springs is Manitou, 
with its mineral springs. It lies in a deep, narrow valley 
at the foot of Pike's Peak, with lofty mountain slopes on 
either side, a mountain stream passing through its centre, 
and the snow-covered top of the peak seen through a notch 
in the lower mountains. Beside the mountain stream, in 
the midst of the town, is a park with mineral springs, 
where thousands of tourists drink for health or for curi- 
osity. '' Manitou lies in a cup-like glen, surrounded by 
mountains, and has for an impressive background, high 
above the surrounding summits, the impressive majesty 
of Pike's Peak. Its regular inhabitants number perhaps 
two thousand five hundred or two thousand. There are 
two electric light plants, and three miles of streets lighted 
by the arc light ; a beautiful avenue eighty feet wide runs 
throuHi the villas^e. On either side of this avenue on the 



236 TYPE STUDIES 

mountain side may be seen many mansions, villas, and cot- 
tages. In the very centre of the town are the springs, 
enclosed within pleasure grounds, sparkling and bubbling 
from their hidden reservoirs. Hotels there are in profu- 
sion ; boarding-houses, cottages, almost any kind of retreat 
or home for a traveller." There are also arcade paths, 
secluded nooks, smooth curving driveways, cool and shady 
parks, hanging rustic bridges, paths up the mountain sides, 
and lookout points hundreds of feet above the valley. 
More than one hundred and fifty thousand people are said 
to visit this spot every year. Farther up the caiion, toward 
the foot of Pike's Peak, are iron springs and hotels on the 
mountain side. Instead of living in hotels or cottages, 
some people bring tents and camp out along the lower 
slopes. From Manitou the old trail leads twelve miles to 
the summit of the peak. A carriage road now also reaches 
the top. But more comfortable still, a cog-wheel railroad 
ascends the mountain from Manitou and puts the summit 
within easy reach of all. 

A little north of the road from Colorado Springs to Man- 
itou lies that region of curious wonders known as the 
Garden of the Gods. It consists of steep, towering rocks 
rising hundreds of feet into the air, some red like terra- 
cotta, some nearly white, with here and there curiously 
fantastic shapes like bears, or elephants, or other ani- 
mals. As we enter the Garden of the Gods, we ''pass in 
between massive portals of rock, of brilliant terra-cotta 
red, and enter upon a pLain, miles in extent, covered in all 
directions with magnificent isolated masses of the same 
striking color, each lifting itself against the wonderful blue 
of the Colorado sky with great distinctness." It seems 
as if giants had been at some rude sport and had piled up 



pike's peak and vicinity 237 

these immense slabs as if to astonish the puny race of men. 
"Here a battlemented wall is pierced by a round window ; 
there a cluster of slender spires lift themselves ; beyond, a 
leaning tower starts upward and a cube of rock as large as 
a dwelling-house is balanced on a pivot-like point at the 
base, as if a child's strength could upset it." In the back- 
ground of all this is the great mountain wall, with the 
white summit of the giant peak above. 

A few miles to the south , but easily reached by carriage 
or by electric car from Colorado Springs, is Cheyenne 
Caiion, a deep gorge in the foot-hills, through which a 
mountain stream flows. The canon is narrow and deep 
and winding, the dark rocks towering hundreds of feet 
perpendicularly above the path at the bottom. After 
an hour's walk or ride up through the canon, we reach the 
foot of the seven falls or the successive springs of this 
mountain stream, as it comes leaping down the mountain 
sides to reach the more level bottom of the rocky gorge. 
The scenery of this canon is very impressive. 

One of the most interesting experiences of this mountain 
region is an old-fashioned trip on foot or on horseback 
from Manitou to the summit of Pike's Peak. We secured 
saddle-horses, and set out in the morning, about eight 
o'clock, for the twelve-mile journey. Passing the iron 
spring, from which we drank strength for the journey, we 
entered the great canon of the Pike's Peak trail, and fol- 
lowed it for six miles or more. It is a continuation of the 
vale in which Manitou lies, a crooked, winding valley, 
rising steadily upward. The mountain sides which 
formed its borders were sometimes covered with forests of 
evergreen. Close to the mountain torrent, and sometimes 
mingled with the pines, were groves of cottonwood. The 



238 TYPE STUDIES 

lower valley was strewn with mighty boulders, as tall as 
the tree-tops, and standing alone, as if some giant hand 
had hurled them from the mountain tops. Tlie path rose 
sometimes many feet above the stream, and again ran close 
by its side, giving great variety of beautiful pictures of this 
winding valley. The trees, flowers, and grasses were all in 
the freshness of June. But when we reached the end of this 
canon, and turned on our track to climb the rugged back- 
bone of the giant, the scenery was almost entirely changed. 
It Avas too steep to go straight up the slope, so we went up 
long, slanting paths, along the side of the mountain, round 
projecting spurs, and at times zigzagging our way, till we 
were beyond timber-line, eleven thousand feet above the 
sea. From here on the journey upward was a dismal one, 
so far as the mountain on which we were climbing was 
concerned. It was simply a rough, rocky path up a bleak 
and barren mountain side ; but we began now to get 
magnificent views of mountain ranges and peaks in tlie 
distance. Gradually the surrounding summits began to 
sink beneath our feet, and we could see distant mountain 
chains a hundred and more miles away. A vast wilderness 
of mountain scenery opened out toward the west, to the 
south and north, and now and then Ave would catch a 
glimpse of the level plains stretching eastward. It grew 
cloudy as we ascended, and our view of the mountains Avas 
not constant. Before reaching the summit, a passing 
cloud en^^eloped us in its chilly folds, and we could see 
nothing. A half-mile or more before sighting the top Ave 
came upon a Avide snoAvdrift, and leaving our horses Ave 
scrambled across the snow and up a rocky path for some 
distance, and came out upon the broad summit of tlie 
mountain, strcAvn Avith such big granite boulders that it was 



PTKF/S riJAIv AND VICINITY 2-59 

difiicull ill most phiccs to wiilk iibout. Tliu siiinmit houses 
was alowst()ii(3striU'tni'(', with liiiavy walls to prc^vc^iit l)low- 
iiigdown. For (lunviiid rrcMpKMitly blows at a tcnilic. sj)(umI 
across this suininit. Ib^'y rmnisluMl us with liot (M)rrc;o, 
and wo spoilt two lioiirs on tlio top Ix^foro startiiii^" lionui 
a^^ain. Koij;s or cJouds woro liaiii^inu;' about tlio brow of 
th(5 inouiitain, and soinotiiiu.'S dril'tcd aoross its top, ;uid 
our vitiws from tlio summit wore; not lull and oloar, but wo 
(^ould oatoli oooasional viows of Maiiitou, (yolorado Sprini^s, 
and tlio (^astcjrn i)lains, and of tli(5 mii»"hty wildiM-iicss of 
mounta/ins on thci otlu;r sid(5. Wo also walkiid about Hk; 
summit, and triod to poor down tlio t,n'(;at ^ori^'os wliioli 
soam tlio mountain on two si(U^s. 

Tlio rarofuul air of tlu^ mountain to|) L;'av(i soiik^ of us a, 
hoadaoho, and wo worii not sorry to start Iioiik; ai^ain. At 
this time tlio i^'ovornnuMit kc^pt ii[) a si^'ual statical at tin; 
top. Two moil iH^iiainod on tlio pciak, (wv.w in wintcu', and 
to 1 014' rap hod daily tlio wciatluu* obsorvations to (Colorado 
S[)rini(s. In winter snow and ico wc^ro |)ilo(l up many fo(;t 
doop about tlui summit Ikmiso, and tlioy could not voiitur(i 
out for thrcH^ months or more. As wo (h;scon(h;(l upon our 
lionuiward journoy, a hoav)' storm of rain caiiKi up and 
gav(5 us sncli a thoroui^h soakimj;* for two hours that wo 
wnn'o fully conviiKHMl that the? I'aiiis in Colorado loxc (Ik; 
mountain slopes. About six o'cdock in tin; o\'oniiiL;* wo 
rodo into Manitou, stiff, huni^'ry, aud dronclKMk and almost 
complotoly oxhauslod aflcr twonty-ldur miles of moun- 
taineering'. 

A tri]) by rail would be doubtless inueli easier and nioro 
comfortable, but. a trip on foot or on hoisebaek i;i\'es tlu; 
best o[)port unit ies for si^ht-seeiuL;', and for those who wish 
to catch the spirit of the mountains and driiilc in its 



240 TYPE STUDIES 

rugged strength and health, a foot journey is the oppor- 
tunity. 

Many people spend a month or two among these moun- 
tains, climbing the ridges and mountain paths, drinking 
of the mineral springs, taking in the pure and bracing air 
of this elevated region, and enjoying the immense variety 
and grandeur of mountain scenery and life. There are 
very many other interesting places, deserving a full de- 
scription, such as the Cave of the Winds, with its labyrinth 
of caverns and beautiful grottos. We entered it from a 
mountain side two or three hundred feet above the bottom 
of the valley. Monument Park, also, with its host of 
sculptured forms in rock as nature has chiselled them out. 
Glen Eyre, near the Garden of the Gods, with its chim- 
neyed rocks and grand mountain gorge, are much visited. 
But there is no limit to the attractions of such a wonder- 
land of mountains and valleys. The Colorado Midland 
Railroad passes up through the valley beyond Manitou, 
and at Green Mountain Falls, nine miles from Manitou, is 
a beautiful summer home, eight thousand feet above the 
sea, with hotels, springs, and a deep valley set in sur- 
rounding mountains to protect it from the storms. 



IRRIGATION AND THE BIG DITCH AT DENVER 

The city of Denver lies in the valley of the south fork 
of the Platte River about twenty-two miles northeast of 
the point at which the river emerges from the foot-hills 
and starts northeastward across the plains to join the 
north fork of the Platte and move eastward to the 
Missouri. In 1880 the big irrigating ditch was dug 
so as to draw its waters from the south fork of the 
Platte and distribute them along the gentle slope south- 
east of the river. About foxty miles south of Denver 
is a plateau extending out from the mountains into 
the plains and forming a divide or watershed between 
the Arkansas on the south and the Platte on the north. 
For many miles, therefore, the plains slope gently from 
the divide toward the northwest down to the south fork 
of the Platte. This gently sloping plain is a part of the 
region known as '' the Plains," lying just east of the 
Rocky Mountains. It is a dry, treeless land with a scanty 
grass and cactus growth. The soil is sandy but rich, and 
if well supplied with water, produces excellent crops of 
grain, grass, and vegetables, l^ut the rainfall for the 
whole year is very light and cannot be depended upon for 
crops, while even the thin buffalo grass will feed only a 
small part of the stock which a good meadow of equal area 
does. The early settlers in Colorado were either miners 
or grazers and stockmen. Put as cities and towns sprung 
up along the mountains, agriculture along the river val- 

R 241 



242 TYPE STUDIES 

leys began to attract attention, and the water was drawn 
out from the rivers and streams into ditches to irrigate 
the growing crops. The first ditches were small and were 
taken out by a few farmers whose land lay in the bottoms 
and near the rivers. Some ten years earlier a larger 
ditch, called the City Ditch, was taken from the river at 
Littleton, ten miles south of Denver, and carried along 
the slope back from the river toward Denver. It passed 
just east of the city and along the plain above, so that its 
water was drawn off not only for farms, but to run through 
the streets of Denver to water gardens and the cotton- 
wood and maple and other trees which shaded the streets 
of the city. 

With the great increase in population at Denver and all 
along the mountains, in iriining towns, the demand for 
agricultural products became greater, and as they had to 
be shipped from Kansas or Utah, three or four hundred 
miles, the impulse became strong to bring much larger 
territories under the irrigating canals. A wealthy com- 
pany therefore secured the privilege of constructing a 
great irrigating ditch so as to bring in a large part of 
the southeast slope of the Platte River under water, and 
thus open up a strip of irrigation many miles long and 
from two to twenty miles wide. 

In order to get the water at a high level and thus carry 
it as far back upon the plains as possible, a dam was built 
in the river three or four miles up the canon, which the 
river has cut through the mountains before coming out into 
the plain. A heavy framework of timbers was built across 
the stream and boarded up so as to make a solid dam, and 
from it boards were sloped down on the lower side over 
which the excess of water flowed. The big ditch was 



20 mi I on 




A. A. x\. — Main chain of the 

Rocky INIountains. 

B. B. B. — Foot-hills. 

C. C. C. — South Fork of the 

Platte. 

D. — Denver. 
E. — The dam. 



F. F. F.— The ditch. 

G. G. G. — Cherry Creek, 
H. H. H. — Watershed. 

I. I. — Clear creek. 
K . — Georoetown . 
P. — Pike's Peak. 
S. S. — South Park. 



IRBIGATION AND THE BIG BITCH AT DENVER 243 

taken out of the river from tlie side of the dam much as a 
mill-race is taken from a stream. A way was made for 
this artificial canal along the canon three or four miles till 
the mouth was reached. But the canon is narrow in places 
and crooked, and lined with mountains from five hundred 
to one thousand feet high. In one place it was necessary 
to cut a tunnel out of solid rock five hundred feet through 
a spur of a mountain, through which the canal flows. In 
several places where the caiion is narrow and the sides 
steep, with rocky cliffs, a great wooden trough was built 
along the side of the mountain and supported by heavy 
braces, and tlie water carried through this. As the de- 
scent of the river is much more rapid than that of the 
canal, at the point where the river and canal emerge 
from the mountain, the canal is twenty or more feet higher 
than the current of the river. At this point the canal di- 
verges from the river, and is carried back as far as its eleva- 
tion, and a gentle slope so as to produce a current, will allow. 
After the canal is brought out of the foot-hills and away 
from rough hilly country near them to tlie more regular 
slope of the plain, we may get a more accurate notion of its 
size. The digging of this great ditch required the work of 
hundreds of men with horses, scrapers, and other machines. 
Tlie canal is forty feet wide at the bottom and seven feet 
deep when the water is turned on. The dirt as it was 
taken out was thrown mostly upon the lower side toward 
the river, so as to form an embankment on that side. In 
many places the dirt Avas piled up fifteen or twenty feet 
high, and the cuts resembled a great railroad cut, only 
wider. The work of excavation was carried on for months 
along this line with many men who lived in tents and with 
much expenditure of capital. 



244 TYPE ST U VIES 

A number of ravines and gullies had to be crossed as 
the ditch was extended. From the high divide streams of 
water come rushing down to the Platte in the rainy season. 
During most of tlie summer these gulches are dry. Cherry 
Creek, which enters the Platte at -Denver, is a large stream 
in the rainy season but nearly dry during the summer. 
Its valley is half a mile wide and twelve to twenty feet 
below the level of the plain. The big ditch had to be 
carried across all these gullies and valleys. Generally the 
ditch is brought to the edge of the valley and carried over 
a large wooden trough to the other side. This trough or 
flume must be deep and wide enough to carry the full 
stream of water. It is built upon piles and wooden trestles 
like a "railroad bridge. The seams and cracks between 
the boards are calked up so as to cause as little leakage as 
possible. 

In some places dams are built across the valleys and the 
water run in so as to form a large lake or reservoir extend- 
ing some distance back up the valley. Sometimes the 
water is run on to tracts of low level land and a bank 
extended along the lower side, forming a shallow lake. 
These reservoirs are filled with water during the rainy 
season when the showers fall in April and the snows melt 
on the mountains. At this season the rivers are usually 
flooded for a short period and an immense amount of water 
escapes down the river unless it is stored up in the reser- 
voirs. If stored up, it will prove very valuable later dur- 
ing the long, dry summer, when there are few or no rains. 
The mountains are the original reservoirs of moisture. 
Much more snow and rain fall in the mountains than 
on the plains. Tlie cohl mountain sides bring out the 
moisture, and it is condensed into rain and snow. The 



IRRIGATION AND THE BIG DITCH AT DENVER 245 

mountain peaks have frequent rain-storms and snows 
when no moisture falls upon the plains. The forests and 
other vegetation in the mountains also help to hold the 
snow and moisture. But in spite of all this, the rivers do 
not furnish enough water to supply all the ditches taken 
from the river. The best way to increase the Avater sup- 
ply so as to be able to irrigate large tracts of country is to 
collect in reservoirs the Avaters which are so abundant at 
the time of the spring freshets. 

When the big ditch has been liberally supplied with 
water, it can be drawn off through wooden boxings to 
irrigate the separate fields. Usually a larger boxing lets 
out enough water to form quite a good-sized ditch, from 
two to six feet across. This may skirt the edges of a 
number of farms, and from it the water is turned off in 
smaller channels still to the separate farms and fields. 
The boxing tlirough which the water escapes from the 
main ditch passes under the embankment on the low^er 
side. At one end it is below the level of the water in the 
ditch; at the otlier end is an upright slide or board, which 
by being lifted lets out the water, or by dropping and 
throwing loose dirt into the boxing stops the flow of 
water. Regular officers, or water inspectors, are ap- 
pointed by the ditcli company to pass along the ditches 
daily and regulate the amount of water sent out to the dif- 
ferent farms ; to keep watch of the ditch, reservoirs, banks, 
and flumes and to see that all are kept in good repair. 
Sometimes, in case of rains and freshets, there is danger 
that tlie ditch may fill up and overrun its banks, thus 
wasting tlie water and ruining the crops. In such cases 
tlie water is often turned out at the flumes and allowed to 
run down the valleys to the Platte. 



246 TYPE STUDIES 

The fields are irrigated in different ways. A wheat- 
field or meadow is sometimes flooded, that is, the water 
turned on till the whole area has been overflowed and 
soaked. In a corn-field the water often runs down in a 
small stream between each two rows and allowed to soak 
into the ground till all is moistened. When sufficient 
moisture is secured, the mouth of the ditch is closed up 
with a shovel of dirt, and for a week or two, perhaps, the 
ground may not be flooded again. Most of the land slopes 
so regularly and evenly toward the river that it is possible 
to irrigate it all and not allow the soil to wash down. 

The ditch company usually sells the water to the farm- 
ers by the inch, the amount of water passing through a 
hole an inch square being suflicient to irrigate an acre. 
The cost of water is from $1.50 to $2.60 an inch. If the 
ditch company owns the land it is leased at a rental for 
water rights. The ditch company, having spent large 
sums of money in constructing the ditch, must get its 
reward in the form of water rent from the farmers whom 
it supplies. 

The effect of bringing a district of country under irri- 
gation is very striking. Fields of grain, meadows of 
alfalfa, and other grasses, corn, and vegetables, grow in 
abundance. The country that once had much the appear- 
ance of a desert is clothed with varieties of green. Shade 
trees and orchards are planted and thrive, houses and 
barns built, and the whole country takes on much of the 
appearance of a blooming Illinois prairie in springtime. 
The whole ground becomes so saturated with moisture 
that wells are dug and supply abundance of water so long 
as the water in the ditch remains. In the fall and winter 
tlio ditches are usually allowed to run dry, as the water is 



IRRIGATION AND THE BIG DITCH AT DENVER 247 

not needed. Land Ij^ing below the level of the ditch 
becomes worth $40 or $50 per acre, while just as good 
land above the level of the ditch and perhaps only a 
few rods away is not worth more than $5 or $6 an acre 
for grazing purposes. Of course roads are opened and 
bridges across the ravines are built, and the markets 
of Denver and other towns supplied with abundance of 
vegetables, small fruit, and grain. It is claimed by those 
who farm by irrigation that it is a more reliable and satis- 
factory method than farming in Illinois or Iowa, where 
dependence must be placed upon the natural rainfall. 
Sometimes the rains do not come ; sometimes they are too 
abundant and they are not sufficiently regular ; but in a 
country cultivated by irrigation the water can be turned 
on when needed and in the quantity desired. The abun- 
dant sunshine also helps to ripen the fruits better, gives 
them a better color and flavor. On the other hand, it 
can be said that only a small part of the western coun- 
try can ever be irrigated, as there are not sufficient rivers 
nor supplies of water for the needs. 

There is also constant conflict as to water rights. The 
old ditches first taken out have the prior claim upon the 
water. According to the law they have the first claim. 
The big ditch at Denver, though taken out much higher 
up the river, is not allowed to take so much water as to 
leave the old ditches farther down the stream without sup- 
plies. But it is very difficult to regulate such a thing as 
flowing water and do justice to all parties. The state 
legislature at Denver, to avoid conflict, makes laws to 
regulate the construction and operation of ditches, and 
provides for water commissioners who constantly supervise 
them. 



248 



TYPE STUDIES 



The northeast slope of the Platte River is supplied with 
water in a different way. Quite a number of small 
streams come down out of the mountains and foot-hills 
and move eastward across the slope to join the Platte. 
Between the river and the mountains at Denver, this rich 
level or rolling plain is about ten miles wide, and is a gar- 
den of beauty and abundance. These small mountain 
streams are dammed up at favorable points so as to form 




Fig. 79. 
Reservoir, with spillway near the rocks and flume in the centre. 

ponds or lakes; from one of these reservoirs the water can 
be carried in small ditches to the level fields a little lower 
down on both sides of the valley. As one stands on the 
mountain, fifteen hundred feet above the level of the 
plain, he can count scores of tliese small artificial lakes 
which preserve the abundance of water of the spring season 
for the use of the farmers in summer time. 

It is a matter of much importance to the farmers along 
the river valleys that the forests in the mountain slopes be 



IRRIGATION AND THE BIG BITCH AT DENVER 249 



preserved so that the snoAvs and rains may be kept in re- 
serve along these slopes. All through the mountains the 
woodsmen and the sawmills have been at work cutting 
out the best pine timber for use in building. It is quite 
important that the forests be preserved, and the springs 
in the mountains be kept flowing. It is also well to en- 
courage the grasses and grass lands upon the mountain 
slopes and in the 
valleys, as they, too, 
help to keep the 
mountains a perma- 
nent reservoir of the 
rains and snows. 

An examination of 
a large map will show 
how many streams 
there are flowing 
eastward from the 
Rocky Mountains 
across the plains that 
may be found useful 
for the purposes of 
irrigation. Even such a large stream as the Arkansas has 
been used very extensively for the purpose of supplying 
large irrigating ditches. The upper valley of the Rio Grande 
is a beautiful and fruitful region, made so by irrigation. 

It may be well also to study the map, not only locating 
the principal rivers and their tributaries flowing down to 
the plains, but notice also the line in Central Kansas and 
Nebraska which separates the arid region of the west from 
the prairies and rainy country to the east, where crops 
may be raised without artificial means. 




Fig. 80. 

Water for irri.£fation is often oonrl noted around 
the mountain sides in a tiunie. 



250 . TYPE STUDIES 

A line drawn through central Kansas and Nebraska 
from north to south on the 100th meridian would fairly 
separate the arid region of the west from the rainy re- 
gions of the east. 

It may be noticed briefly here, also, that most of the 
western states and territories must depend in the future 
for their agricultural development upon irrigation. The 




Fig. 81. 

An irrigation ditch that supplies water to some of the orange groves of south- 
ern California. 

fruitful valleys of Utah and California and other western 
states, depend upon this means of supplying moisture to 
the fields. 

In some of the states, like Dakota and Texas, resort has 
been had to artesian wells, and this method may fairly be 
compared with the other means of supplying water to the 
growing crop. 

The study of irrigation as given in the preceding sketch, 
not only gives an insiglit into the methods of agriculture 
in nearly half of our own domain, but it will be found 
very helpful in explaining similar conditions and agricul- 



lERIGATION AND THE BIG DITCH AT DENVER 251 

ture in Africa, in Mexico, and in Central and Western 
Asia, in India, and even in European lands where the water 




Fig. 82. 

Salt Lake and Jordan Canal, Utah, with headgate to regnlate the flow of 
water. Willows on the bank of the canal ; cottonwood trees farther back. 
The great bar at the point of the mountain in the background. 



from rivers is and has been so much used in aiding the 
cultivation of the soil. 



THE GREAT BASIN OF UTAH AND NEVADA 



Between the Wasatch Mountams on the east and the 
Sierra Nevada of California on the west lies a region of 




Fig. 83. 

A map to show the rainfall of the United States in inches ; that is, the num- 
ber of inches of water that would collect all over the surface in a year if 
all the rain remained where it fell. 

desert wastes, salt lakes, and plateaus cut up by short moun- 
tain chains, whose drainage has no outlet to the sea. It is 
a broken plateau between four thousand and five thousand 
feet above the sea-level, and is a little larger than France. 
On the south of this region lies the plateau of the 
Colorado River with its deep canons, separated by only a 

252 



THE GREAT BASIN OF UTAH AND NEVADA 253 

slight watershed from the Great Basin. On the north also 
the watershed between the Snake River and the Great 
Basm is irregular and difficult to determine. 

This whole region is arid, having only a slight rainfall, 
owing to the high Sierra Nevada range, which intercepts 
the wet winds cominof from the Pacific and causes their 
moisture to fall in rains and snows upon the western 
mountains. As these winds pass over to the plateau, they 
are mostly dry. 

On the east, the great Rocky Mountain chain likewise 
takes most of the moisture from the winds from the Gulf 
of Mexico and the Mississippi Valle3\ 

In addition to these causes the plateau in summer time 
is hot, and the ascending column of hot air dissipates what 
clouds would be formed over the plateau. Tliis is especially 
true in the southern part of the plateau and in the Colorado 
basin, so that refreshing showers are also cut off in that 
direction. 

Such rains as do fall within the basin are mostly along 
the ridges of the higher mountain chains, such as the 
Wasatch and the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, which 
also get a part of the snows and rains from the Pacific. 
From these mountain slopes descend the streams which 
supply the salt lakes and sinks with water ; e,(/. Bear 
River and the Jordan, flowing into Salt Lake ; the Truckee 
River, flowing into Pyramid and Winnemucca lakes, near 
the Sierra Nevada ; and the Humboldt, flowing into Hum- 
boldt and Carson sinks ; also the Sevier River and Lake. 

Most of the lower mountain ridges crossing this plateau 
extend from north to south and are barren, rising pre- 
cipitously in many places out of the plateau. In a few 
places they are cut through by rivers forming gorges 



254 



TYPE STUDIES 



through which the railroads pass from east to west, as, for 
example, along the Bear and Humboldt rivers. 

Several parts of this plateau are distinctly marked 
deserts, as is the large tract just west and southwest of 
Salt Lake, which was once a part of Salt Lake itself, when 
the water was more abundant and extended ; also the 
Mohave Desert, with its dreary valley, partly below sea- 
level (called Death Valley), in southeastern California. 




Fig. 84. 

The desert of Utah, near Great Salt Lake, where there is no fresh water, 
where it rarely rains, and where there is very little vegetation. 



In the early caravan days to California the passage of the 
pioneers across the deserts of Utah was marked by great 
sufferings and losses. 

Agriculture is possible only where the rivers can be 
used as irrigating streams, which is especially the case 
with those small rivers flowing into the Great Salt Lake. 
Irrigation, however, takes up so much of the river waters 
that the lakes receive a smaller part and are reduced in 
size. In the valleys where irrigating ditches can be used 
the soil is productive. Such valleys at the western foot of 
the Wasatch Mountains are very fruitful, with farms and 



THE GREAT BASIN OF UTAH AND NEVADA 255 

gardens and many prosperous villages and towns. The 
streams which flow westward from the Wasatch Mountains 
have cut deep, narrow caiions, like those of the American 
Fork and Big Cottonwood, having walls four thousand 
feet high and presenting grand scenery. Breaking over 
ledges and rocks, the falls and rapids of these streams 
supply also a great water-power. 

In passing from the deserts southwest of Salt Lake, to 
the top of the Wasatch Mountains, a remarkable variety 
of scenery and vegetation is presented. The great desert 
itself, one hundred miles long and forty miles wide, is an 
absolute waste, dreary and desolate. East of this the 
plains are covered wdth sagebrush, cacti, rabbit bush, 
mesquit, and the thin desert grass. Out of this plain rise 
steep, narrow mountain ridges, sometimes a mile high. 

'^ Throughout the lower slopes, low hills and table-lands 
and below the oak zone, but not in the valleys, Utah is 
everywhere covered by large areas of juniper, called cedar, 
and also by pinon. The pinon is a small pine tree, seldom 
reaching thirty feet in height, which bears a large seed 
that has been the main support of the Indians for ages. 
The juniper is also a scraggly bush or small tree of about 
the same size. Both of these are evergreens, and produce 
large quantities of resin, and are everywhere used for 
posts and fuel."^ 

Above this the mountain sides are covered with scrub 
oak, aspen, and various evergreen trees ; sometimes in large 
forests, supplying excellent lumber, as in the case of the 
yellow pine, spruce, and red pine. The lumber-producing 
forests are confined mostly to high ridges and plateaus. 

From the top of the Wasatch peaks one may see spread 

^ Tarr and McMurry's Geography, Supplementary Volume, Utah. 



256 TYPE STUDIES 

out before him, as on a map, the valleys, cities, and towns 
of Utah. The air is so clear that one may see more than 
a hundred miles, and distant objects seem to draw near 
and stand out clearly. From these summits the eastern 
edge of the Great Basin can be clearly surveyed for 
two hundred miles at a single view. 

In the early springtime the lower plains are covered 
with a profusion of brilliant flowers, brought into life by 




Fig. 85. 
Salt Lake City and the AVasatch Range. 

the early spring rains. But they quickly disappear, and 
only the ripened seeds remain in the soil awaiting another 
season of showers. 

'SSince but little of Utah is capable of irrigation because 
of the lack of water, the land is uncultivated by farmers, 
and would be useless were it not for the scanty vegetation 
which grows on the deserts and the abundant grass which 
once covered the mountains. The people early began rais- 
ing cattle, horses, mules, and sheep, till now the animals are 



THE GREAT BASIN OF UTAH AND NEVADA 257 

counted by the millions. The grass growing on the 
deserts has the peculiarity of drying up and still retaining 
its nourishment, so the stock spread out over the deserts 
and live upon this grass. In addition there are certain 
shrubs which furnish the greater part of the sustenance 
for stock. The chief of these is the winter fat, a low shrub 
which is eaten close to the ground, and is very nourishing 
because of the abundant seed which it produces, and Avhicli 
remains on the stems during the winter. There are two 
other shrubs upon which tlie sheep depend besides the 
winter fat. One of them is the shad-scale, a thorny shrub 
belonging to the beet family, and the other the gray, but 
evergreen, sagebrush. When the snows begin to melt off 
the deserts, so that the stock can no longer secure water 
to drink, the animals drift back to the mountains and 
follow the retreating snow, till in the height of summer 
most of the animals are found grazing on the highest 
mountains. The number of cattle raised is 400,000 ; 
sheep, 3,300,000 ; total sheep owned in Utah, 6,000,000." i 

Great Salt Lake, in the extreme northern part of the 
Great Basin, has a history which is one of the most inter- 
esting chapters in the geography of North America. The 
lake itself, whose surface is about 4205 feet above sea- 
level is 70 miles long and has an average width of some 
30 miles and an area of 1700 square miles. Its average 
depth is 12 feet. Travellers in crossing the mountains, 
when first coming in sight of this wide-spreading lake, 
have expressed their surprise at the grand view of this 
extensive inland sea, surrounded by high mountains. 

But geologists and geographical explorers, by studying 
the plains and mountain sides which surround tliis lake, 

1 Tarr and McMurry's Geography, Supplementary Voliune, Utah. 

s 



258 



TYPE STUDIES 



have found out that it was once more than ten times as 
large as now, that is, 18,000 square miles in extent, that it 
was 1200 feet deep in places, and instead of being so 
intensely salt as now, was a fresh-water lake, abounding 
in salmon, whitefish, trout, and other fresh-water fish, 
and that its outlet was a broad, deep stream at what is 




Fig. 86. 

Old outlet of Great Salt Lake at Red Rock Gap. The level part in the middle 
is about a quarter of a mile wide, and was the bottom of the river. The 
hills in the foreground were cliffs on the edge of the river. The table-land 
in the background was the shore when the lake was the highest. 



now known as Red Rock Gap, where it passed through 
the hills northward to join the Snake River. 

One of the most easily seen proofs of the greater size 
of this lake in former times is the old beach levels or 
shores of the lake found along the mountain sides 600 feet 
and more above the present level of the lake. Where 
rivers entered the lake, they also built broad, flat deltas. 
These old beach levels and deltas which line the valleys 
are sometimes called benches, and they form many of the 



THE GREAT BASIN OF UTAH AND NEVADA 259 

best irrigated farm lands of Utah. The great salt deserts 
west of Salt Lake are portions of this ancient lake that are 
dried up, and the thick layers of salt prevent all vegetation. 

As the outlet river flowing northward cut its channel 
deeper, it drained out the lake and brought it to lower levels. 
Finally, the climate grew so dry that the evaporation was 
greater than the supply of water from rivers and rains, and 
the lake sank below the outlet and began to grow salt. 

At the present time the lake water is 25 per cent salt, 
so that the fishes cannot live in it, and nothing but 



^--^ 


.^^-.^^^Sg^i-^^ ^ jl 


n 


" ' ■■ ; - — ^ : ..' - - -:^_r:,_^:f^'v -••7?^ r "'^^'^''^^^?!^^^^^^ 


zt- 


^^''^^Z.^^'^l^&^^^^lj:':^^ 


taat 


^^HHI^^HSmf^r^^l 






■J. 



Fig. 87. 

Old beaches of the lake near Chambers Station. The uppermost beach was 
the highest point ever reached by the lake. 

shrimps, seaweed, and insects are found in and on its 
waters. Swimming is easy as the body floats upon the 
heavy water. There are great bathing resorts near Salt 
Lake City, where it is said as many as two hundred thou- 
sand people come yearly to enjoy the salt sea-batliing. 

The history of Pyramid and Winnemucca lakes in 
Nevada is similar to that of Salt Lake, and at one time it 
is supposed that the two large fresh-water lakes of Utah 
and Nevada were joined into one great inland sea. 

The Sierra Nevada Range on tlie western limit of tlie 
Great Basin is a loftier mountain rid^re tlian the Wasatch. 



260 



TYPE STUDIES 



It receives lieavj^ rains and snows from the moist winds from 
the Pacific, and a part of this moisture reaches the eastern 
slopes of the Sierra Nevada, forming fresh- water lakes and 
rivers. But as they descend into the deserts of Nevada, 
they are swallowed up, forming brackish lakes or sinks. 




Fig. 88. 
Saltair, the greatest bathing resort on the lake. 



That part of the Great Basin which lies in southeast- 
ern California is the hot and blistering Mohave Desert. 

In the later study of Europe, Asia, South America, and 
Africa, we shall meet with arid tracts or deserts which 
remind us strongly of the conditions in the Great Basin 
of Utah and Nevada. 



A GOLD MINE IN CALIFORNIA 

(The chief part of this topic was written by Miss Maud Valentine.) 

In the fall of 1848 there was great excitement over 
California with its gold mines, and how soonest to get 
there was the ruling question. It was about the time of 
the closing of the Mexican War. California had just been 
ceded to the United States by Mexico. The gold fever 
was at its height. San Francisco at this time was a strag- 
gling village, chiefly of tents ; a few wooden houses had 
been built, while three or four adobe structures told of 
Mexican occupation. 

At this time the richest gold-producing region of Cali- 
fornia, or perhaps of the world, was in the Sierra Nevada 
Mountains on the Upper Sacramento, the San Joaquin, 
and the Klamath. At the time tliat California was ceded 
to the United States, one of the American settlers was 
Captain John Sutter, who had settled at tlie junction of 
the Sacramento and American rivers, near the present 
site of Sacramento, called then Sutter's Fort. This was 
an important location because it was at the head of navi- 
gation on tlie Sacramento, and the first station on the 
overland route across the Rocky Mountains. The phice 
is now called Colona. Here Captain Sutter built a flour- 
mill to grind the wheat he raised. It also helped him to 
provide proper food for the number of travellers passing 
the fort. There was no good timber in the valley out of 
which to build his flour-mill, so he must go to the moun- 

201 



262 TYPE STUDIES 

tains for it. To prepare it for building use he must 
have a sawmill. So he called on James W. Marshall, a 
skilful wheelwright, an industrious, generous, but queer 
man, one full of wild fancies, to select the site of the 
sawmill. 

The place selected for the sawmill was forty-five miles 
from Sutter's Fort and connected with it by a wagon 
road. The mill was nearly finished, the dam made, but 
the mill-race, though dug, was found to be too small to 
carry off the water. So the channel w^as deepened, and 
in order to carry the loose dirt, the gates were opened 
and the water turned in and then turned off again. On 
Monday afternoon, January 24, 1848, Marshall was walk- 
ing in the dry bed of the race to see if tlie water had 
washed it out to the required depth. He picked up some 
yellow particles, the largest of which was about the size 
of a grain of wheat. They Avere smooth, bright, and 
looked like brass. He thought they were gold, and told 
some of the men at the mill so, but they laughed at him. 
He hammered the metal, and found it could be made into 
a thin sheet. He put some in the kitchen fire, and found it 
did not readily melt or become discolored. He compared 
its color with that of gold coin, and felt certain it was gold. 
The next morning he again took the walk and collected 
about a spoonful of tlie particles, put them in the crown 
of his slouch hat, and tlius carried them to the men at the 
sawmill. He took this a few days hiter to Sutter at Sut- 
ter's Fort. Here it was tested and pronounced gold. 
Work at the mill went on as usual for several months. 
There was no excitement. Tlie laborers knew nothing of 
phicer mining. Rej)orts came of gold being discovered 
in other places in California. All at once the excitement 



A COLD MINE IN CAUFOHNIA 



263 



bursi ^ Jind spread like wild-lii'c. About June, 1848, 
"Gold! tu.. was the topic in all this vicinity." 

The news of the discovery spread from \\w, little fort to 
the seacoast and to all the worhl. C'aptain Sutter's men 
deserted him to look for gold, next the Indians and the 
American settlers caught the fever. Miners from these 
new gold districts b(\i;an to straggle into San l^'rancisco 
with their })ouches of gold-dust. The effect was woiKh'r- 
ful. Towns were deserted. Students left their colleges, 
blacksmiths left their anvils, sailors their ships, lawyers 
their offices, even lields of grain ready for harvest were 



, ^7<,-;^- 



f:Maamim-^ 



:"V1K: 



wm 



Travcllini; lo California in (he Pioneer Days. 

left to take care of tliemselves. Fi'om all parts of the 
world flocked men to dig gokl ; Mexicans, Yankees from 
New England, Chinamen, a few Indians, Krenclinien, 
G(^rmans, Italians, Ivussians, and many outcasts of society, 
until there was a mixed po[)ulation such as no otiier coun- 
try could imitate. It was a ragged, dirty, unshaven, 
good-natured crowd. Thi'e(^ thousand miU's lay between 
the old states and this hmd of gold, yet there were cai'a- 
vans everywhere for ('alifornia; ships in every port for 
California. 'Mlo ! for Galifoi-nia," was the cry. 

A miner's outfit consisted of a pair of serviceable sliirts, 
a change of trousers, strong cowhiiU) boots, buckskin 



264 ' TYPE STUDIES 

gauntleted gloves, slouch hat, and a pair of woollen blankets 
strapped on his shoulders. In his belt he carried a couple 
of revolvers and a bowie-knife, and on his back was slung 
his rifle. By the time he reached his destination he had in 
his outfit frying-pans, a coffee-pot, a small iron kettle, tin 
cups, plates, a knife, fork, and spoon. A tent was a good 
thing to have, but he could get along without it, as there is 
no fear of rain from May to October in California. A 
rubber blanket spread over boughs and on this his woollen 
blankets formed his bed. He also had a supply of bacon, 
flour, salt, saleratus, beans, and a few candles. His bill of 
fare did not vary much for breakfast, dinner, or supper. 
The tools he needed for his work were few and inexpen- 
sive. All that was needed to get the gold was to wash it 
out of the gravel. This could be done easily, for gold is 
many times heavier than water. The gravel was placed 
in a pan with water and shaken around vigorously; the 
gold quickly settled to the bottom, and the gravel was 
poured off with the water. A few washings would leave 
the gold clean. A pick, pan, shovel, dipper, and bucket 
were all the tools needed. If the gravel paid 25 cents a 
pan, a miner would make $15 a day ; often he made 
much more than this. 

The first thing to be done upon reaching the gold dis- 
trict was to look around for a claim or to hegm to prospect. 
To prospect was to find a spot that looked favorable and 
make an examination of it. The miner would take a pan 
of earth, shake and whirl it under water, raise and tip it 
frequently to run the dirt and water off, then plunge it in 
again, and so continue until a small amount of blacks and 
gold remained. A speck of gold was the " color," several 
specks were " several colors, " and the number and size de- 



A GOLD MINE IN CALIFORNIA 265 

termined the miner whether he shoukl go to Avork or move 
on. At first each miner occupied all the ground he de- 
sired. Later a law was made limiting claims to a certain 
size. This varied in different camps, and depended some- 
what upon the richness of the earth. Generally a miner 
was restricted to fifteen feet front on the river. Leaving 
mining tools on a claim in the absence of a claimant was suf- 
ficient to hold the claim for ten days. The deposits of gold 
were on land belonging to the national government which, 
without charge, supervision, or permit, allowed every citizen 
to take all the gold from any claim held in accordance with 
the local regulations adopted, by the miners of his district. 

The first impression on seeing a miner at work is not 
pleasant. He is a rough, dirty-looking man in a dry ravine. 
The banks are almost as high as his shoulders. A double- 
barrelled sliot-gun lies on the edge of the bank within 
easy reach. He is picking up dry clay and gravel from the 
bottom of the ravine, pulverizing it in his pan with a 
stone, and then shaking it about until the light particles 
come to the top. These he brushes over the rim. The 
pulverizing and shaking continue until a small quantity of 
dust and gold are left in the bottom. The dust is blown 
out with the breath. This is called ''dry washing." 

Two miners usually worked together as partners. The 
simplest way of washing gold-bearing earth was witli the 
pan. A rocker was procured as soon as it could be afforded. 
It was the most expensive tool of the miner, though simple 
in construction, costing from $50 to 'i^lOO. Li general 
appearance it was not unlike a baby's cradle, such as our 
grandmothers used. It had a flat bottom, two sides that 
flared outward and one end board at the head, while tlie 
foot was open, save a rilHe about one and a half inches 



266 TYPE STUDIES 

high at the bottom to catch the gold that might pass, 
another riffle across the bottom near the middle. At the 
head of the cradle or rocker was a hopper about eighteen 
inches square, with a perforated slieet-iron bottom or a 
bottom made of wire screen. Under this was a board 
sloping downwards toward the head. Two strong, sub- 
stantial rockers under the whole completed the simple 
machine. 

This is the way the two partners worked. Two sticks 
of wood hewn on the upper side were embedded at the 
river's brink, one four inches lower than the other, on 
which the rockers were to rest, thus securing a grade in 
the machine to facilitate the outward flow of the sand 
and water. One shovelled the earth into the hopper of 
the rocker, while the other, seated on a big rock or a 
block of wood, dipped the water from the river and 
poured it upon the earth in the hopper with one hand, all 
the time rocking with the other. When the earth was 
thoroughly washed, he rose, lifted the hopper from its 
place, threw out the stones and gravel, and replaced 
it. Thus the work went on. At noon the gold and 
black sand collected above the riffles were taken up on a 
scraper and thrown into a pan, which was carried to the 
river and carefully washed to remove, as far as possible, all 
but the gold. When ground was very rich, the rocker was 
cleaned of gold every hour or two. The yield of the fore- 
noon was carried to the camp, dried over the blaze, the 
dry sand being blown out with the breath, the gold weighed 
in scales or guessed at, then poured into the partnership 
purse and deposited under the bed or elsewhere out of 
sight. Gold was seldom stolen, for a theft was so se- 
verely dealt with that one seldom occurred. 



A GOLD MINE IN CALIFORNIA 267 

The first gold wasliing" Avas on the bars of the rivers, and 
at first only two or three feet of gravel covered the gold. 
That taken from the river bars was mostly in the form of 
scales resembling cucumber seeds, and of varying size. It 
was most plentiful on the bed-rock or in a few inches of 
soil above it. Gravel was rich if it paid 25 cents a pan. 
A man could dig and w ash fifty or sixty j^ans a day. With 
a rocker he could do three times as much. The richest 
gravel was on tlie Bear, the Yuba, and the American 
rivers, and a pan often yielded from $1 to $5. 

When the rainy season began in the winter 1848, and tlie 
rivers rose and covered the bars, the miners were driven 
back into the ravines and mountains. The deposits here 
were almost as rich as in the bars. Often a man could 
take out several hundreds or even a thousand dollars a day. 
It was not uncommon to hear on good authority that a 
miner had taken out $1000 in a day, or even $5000. In 
1848 tlie miners usually got $16 a day, and if a claim did 
not yield so much, it was not worth working. 

When the work of the day was over, around the supper 
fire the events of the day were discussed, earnings com- 
pared, reports made of grizzly bears or deer being seen or 
killed, or of better diggings of gold discovered. ''Coarse 
gold," that is, gold found in lumps, was a charm to the or- 
dinary miner. His claim might be paying him an ounce 
a day in fine gold — an ounce is reckoned at $16 — but he 
was always interested in some reported diggings far away, 
where the product Avas in lumps. Not infrequently he 
left a good mine to seek some richer El Dorado. The be- 
setting fault of the early miner was unrest. He was for- 
ever seeking better fortune. 

The homes of the miners were varied indeed. ]\Iany of 



268 TYPE STUDIES 

them lived in cabins or shanties made of boards and pine 
boughs, in log huts, in Indian skin-lodges, but most of them 
lived in common soldiers' tents about eight feet square the 
entire winter. The weather at no time is very cold in 
California. February is much like our May. They often 
kept warm by building a huge fireplace in front of the tent 
that sent through the thin cotton dwelling a warm glow. 

During the winter of 1849-1850 the cost of living was 
extreme. Flour reached il a pound, or $50 a barrel, rice 
the same, pork and bacon il.60 a pound, saleratus $16 a 
pound, and candles $1 each. A pair of long-legged boots 
cost f 100, and expressage for a letter $1. An ounce of 
gold ($16) was the price of a pick or shovel, a common 
spade cost $10. A miner carried a leather pouch and bal- 
ance, and when making purchases, weighed out the neces- 
sary amount of gold to pay the bill. 

That all miners did not get rich might be accounted 
for by the fact that it took a fair claim to pay expenses, 
the short duration of a placer claim, the loss of time in 
finding another, and the too general restlessness. Gam- 
bling or the excessive use of whiskey told the story of many 
failures to realize a fortune. 

The ''long tom" came into use early as the successor of 
the rocker. It was a trough of boards ten or twelve feet 
long, two feet wide at the bottom, with sides eight or ten 
inches high, and was furnished with a perforated sheet- 
iron plate three feet long, which had the end part curved 
upward to catch the stones and gravel, while the Avater, 
sand, and small gravel dropped through it into a riffle-box 
below, set on an incline to allow the lighter matter to pass 
off with the water ; the long tom was put on an easy grade 
and supplied with a constant stream of flowing water, enough 



A GOLD MINE IN CALIFORNIA 269 

to drive and wash all the earth thrown into it down npon 
the perforated screen. Two or more men shovelled the 
earth into the torn and one threw out the stones from the 
screen with a fork or square-pointed shovel, when they 
were sufficiently waslied. As the claim was worked back, 
the long tom was extended by means of sluice-boxes until 
a dozen or more miners were shovelling dirt into them on 
botli sides. Afterwards it was found that by putting rif- 
fles into the sluice-boxes, the long tom could be dispensed 
with, and miles of sluices of all sizes were seen, some sup- 
plied with a few inches of running water, while others 
bore torrents of the muddy fluid. 

The sluice requiring a rapid flow of water was set on a 
grade of say four inches to twelve feet in length. It is 
plain to see that in a short distance the pay dirt would 
have to be lifted higher than the miner's liead. Some- 
times the earth was thrown by one set of miners up on 
a platform, to be shovelled by another set into the sluice. 
Numerous small boulders were kept in the sluice, around 
and over which the water boiled and leaped, dissolving the 
clay. When the gold was fine and difficult to save, 
quicksilver was poured into the sluices to catch it. 
Quicksilver will dissolve gold as readily as water dis- 
solves sugar. PVom the compound thus formed, which is 
called amalgam, tlie quicksilver can easily be removed by 
distillation. 

More and more, water was made to do the work of the 
miner. Instead of carrying the dirt in buckets to the 
river to be waslied, the river was carried to tlie dirt. By 
canals from rivers tlie water was carried at great expense 
to a gold-bearing bank of gravel in some mountain gorge. 
It found its way throuo-h stroncr iron tubinix or hose, and 



270 



TYPE STUDIES 



large quantities were forced through nozzles and thrown 
with terrific force against- the banks of the gold-bearing 
gravel. Ditches dug in the earth at a moderate grade, or 
sluices of lumber, caught the gravel as it came tumbling 
down, and separated the gold, leaving it on the bottom. 
A steady throw of water against a bank was kept up 




Fig. 90. 
Washing gold from gravel beds in California by means of hydraulic mining. 



for days, even months, without stopping night or day. 
Three men working a strong jet of water can wear down 
a hill faster than a hundred men could with shovels. 
Sometimes the stones and gravel of the hillside are 
loosened by blasting before the stream of water is turned 
on. Such a stream turned on a gravel bank will hollow 
great caves in it, causing tons of earth and gravel to fall 
every few minutes into the sluice beneath. This water- 



A GOLD MINE IN CALIFORNIA 



271 



jet method is called hydraulic mining, and was introduced 
in California in 1852. The expense of building dams and 
flumes, and in laying water-mains to the gold-bearing 
gravel banks was great, so that large capital was necessary 
in this mode of mining. 

A second more difficult and expensive mode of mining 
is that of digging the crude ore out of the veins of metal 




Fig. 91. 
The timbering of a mine. 

which lie embedded between rock layers of solid quartz. 
A hole is dug which runs down slanting into the side of 
the mountain, following the vein of ore. After the sands 
of the river bottoms had been washed out by placer min- 
ing, these rich, gold-bearing veins were searched out by 
prospectors, and, where found, deep shafts were sunk. 
This required engines and hoisting machinery, tools and 
blasting materials, curbing and wooden supports for the 
shaft sand galleries, so that it was very expensive, and only 
capitalists could afford to develop a mine, even if it was 
known to contain good ore. 



272 



TYPE STUDIES 



The ore in these veins is also mixed with other metals, 
as silver, lead, and copper, as well as with rock and dirt. 
After it is taken from the mine it is usually carried to a 
stamp mill near by, where it is crushed to powder, then 
put in sacks and shipped to some larger town, where there 
is a great smelter for melting and separating the different 
ores, rock, etc. 

This is now the common method of mining from 
Colorado to California, and from New Mexico to Idaho 




Fig. 92. 
Miners at work underground. 

and Montana. As one travels through the mountain val- 
leys, one often sees far up on the slopes of the mountain 
side the entrance to one of these mines, with the piles of 
rock and dirt at its mouth. In the valley below he may 
hear the thump of the stamp mills where the ore is being 
crushed. 

As the shaft is sunk into the mountain, galleries are 
run out on eitlier side, and occasionally a tunnel is dug 
from the lower end of the mine to the bottom of the val- 
ley on the same level. In some of the rich, productive 



A GOLD MINE IN CALIFORNIA 273 

mines, like the Comstock of Virginia City, Nevada, and in 
the silver mines of Leadville and in the copper mines of 
Butte, Montana, the shafts are sunk miles into the earth,, 
with a great network of galleries many miles in extent. 
In the Comstock lode the heat of the earth was so great 
in the lower depths that the work had to be abandoned- 
Some of the richest mining districts are Leadville, ten 
thousand feet above the sea, Cripple Creek near Pike's. 
Peak, Butte, Montana, Tucson, Arizona, the region near 




Fig. 93. 
A Smelter at Great Falls, Montana. 

Salt Lake City, and parts of Idaho, New Mexico, and 
California. 

The great smelters are usually located at those cities 
where large quantities of ore can be easily collected, as at 
Pueblo, Denver, Great Falls, Butte, and Leadville. 

In the production of gold and silver Colorado stands 
first, with nineteen millions of gold and nearly twenty- 
eight millions of dollars' worth of silver in a year. 
Montana and California are second. 

Tlie results of the discovery of gold in California were 
remarkal)le. Tliere was sucli a rush of new settlers that 
in 1850 California was admitted as a state. Roads were 
opened up across the mountains, and the other mountain 

T 



274 



TYPE STUDIES 



states were settled. la 1859 gold was discovered in 
Colorado, and another great rush of emigrants followed. 
The rapid growth of gold and silver raining led also to 
the development of agriculture, lumbering, fruit-growing, 




'Fig. 94. 



stock-raising and irrigation of arid lands. Large cities, 
such as Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, 
Seattle, Pueblo, Salt Lake City, Oakland, and Sacramento 
have grown up. The first Pacific road was completed in 
1867, and since then many others have crossed the plains 
and mountains. 



THE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE COLUMBIA 

The fresh and canned salmon often found on our 
tables come from the Columbia Kiver and other streams 




SCALE OF MILES 



) 100 150 200 2i)0 300 

Fig. 95. 
The Columbia River. 



of the northwest. From the mouth of the Columbia for 
many miles up the broad river the salmon fisheries are 



275 



276 TYP^ STUDIES 

immerous, and the number of men and amount of capital 
employed in the business great. 

Astoria, at the mouth of the river, once famous as the 
centre of the fur trade, is now of chief importance as a 
fishing town. Large quantities of newly caught salmon 
are brought in by boats to this point and either put in 
cold storage or run through the big canneries. 

The fishing business is based upon the peculiar habits 
and life history of the salmon, which must be first under- 
stood. 

The salmon passes part of its life in the fresh waters of 
rivers and part in the salt waters of the ocean along the 
western coasts. Far up among the creeks and brooks 
that form the head waters of the Columbia, a thousand 
miles or more from the river's mouth, the little salmon 
eggs hatch out and the tiny fish live for a while in the 
icy waters that come down from the snows in the moun- 
tains. As they grow a few months older they drift down 
the river with the current, feeding and growing larger as 
they descend, till after some months they reach the brack- 
ish waters at the mouth of the river. After getting ac- 
customed to the salt water, thej^ venture out into the 
ocean, where they make their home for three or four 
years not far from the coast and near the river mouths. 
Here the salmon steadily grows to a j)owerful fish, weigh- 
ing about forty pounds. Sometimes the largest specimens 
weigh eighty or ninety pounds. 

In July or August, when about four years old and in 
prime condition, the salmon start up the river again to 
tlieir birthphxce at the foot of tlie mountains. If they 
escape the nets and traps of the fislierman, they boldly 
push against the current, leap the rapids and falls, and, 



THE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE COLUMBIA 277 

without stopping to eat, ascend tlie upper Columbia till 
they reach some smaller stream. 

'-'- Here tlie males and females, much Avasted in flesh 
from their fasting, pair off, and in some brawling stream, 
near a lake by preference, they dig a nest, using heads, 
tails, and fins with almost human intelligence. The male 
by this time has developed a formidable hooked beak, 
with which he fights savagely for the rights of his home. 
Here the eggs are laid, from one to six thousand to each 
fish. Carried down-stream by the swift water, a large 
proportion are lost, many being seized as rare tidbits by 
waiting trout. But a few drop among the loose stones 
at the lower edge of the nest, where they are protected in 
holes and crevices until hatching time." 

In a few months the eggs hatch out and the little 
salmon soon begin their journey down the river to the 
sea. 

During July and August, when thousands and tens of 
thousands of salmon swarm up the river, the fishermen 
are in wait for them with traps, nets, water-wheels, and 
even with spears in Indian fashion, to capture as many as 
possible. All along the lower Columbia the fishing sta- 
tions are numerous, and above the falls in the narrower 
part of the river there are many fishermen at work. Even 
in early days Avhen Lewis and Clark made their great ex- 
ploring trip down the Columbia, the Indians lived chiefly 
upon the salmon Avhich they caught and cured in large 
quantities. 

Since 1876 the salmon fisheries of the Columbia have 
grown to great importance, and the product is worth many 
millions of dollars. 

There are several interesting modes of taking the fish 



278 TYPE STUDIES 

as tliey make their runs up the stream. One of the most 
successful of these is by the use of the trap. 

In the shallow waters where piles can be driven down 
in a row, a strong netting is stretched along these piles 
and reaching from the bottom of the river above the sur- 
face, its upper end being farther up the stream and ter- 
minating in a circular trap, that is, a circle of piles, about 
twenty feet in diameter and also enclosed in a net. A 
second circular net inside the piling can be raised and 
lowered. As the fish ascend the river against the. current, 
they come against the long netting stretched upon the 
piling, and nosing along this toward the side which is 
higher up the stream they enter the door of the trap. 
When there is a good run of fish they sometimes pile up 
so thick as to completely fill the net. Fishermen in a 
small boat then enter the net and gather in the fish. 
V Much fishing is also done by seining in the shallow 
places near the shore. When the tide is high the long 
seines are stretched across the shallow places and at ebb 
tide are drawn in by men and horses, wading in the 
waters. Sometimes they get a rich haul of fish to be 
sent to the canneries. 

In the main current of the river the fishing is done 
mostly by gill-nets. A gill-net is a quarter of a mile in 
length and is stretched across the current, its lower edge 
sunk thirty feet or more into the water by weights. This 
huge net floats down the river with the current and re- 
turns again with the incoming tide, the fishernif n attend- 
ing and watcliing it in boats. The fish ascending the 
river run their noses through the meshes of the net and 
are caught by the gills. The disturbance of the net 
shows when a big salmon is caught and the fisherman 



THE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE COLUMBIA 279 

comes, lifts the net, and brings him flopping into the boat. 
Sometimes the fishermen follow their nets a whole day 
and more without catching a salmon, and again when the 
run is good they may take hundreds. There is much 
danger that a steamer or tug ascending the river will run 
across one of the nets and tear it to pieces or carry it away, 
causing great loss to the fishermen. The weather is often 
stormy and foggy, and where the river meets the swell of 
the ocean, boats are often lost and fishermen drowned. 





HI 


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=g5. ■.-?-- 2^ >. ^-J^ 


- '^--'"''^ 


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t- -^~i?^"rrj-3fj;:;;; "Er=::s:^-'''^:5s5^=:r-r^^ 






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^^H^H^H 




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i^SaHG£^^^S -"9 




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^^Bi 



Fig. m. 
A fishino- wheel on the Columbia River. 



Still another method of fishing is common along the 
narrower parts of the upper Columbia. A great water 
wheel is attached to a flat-boat or at the end of a wooden 
pier built out into the river. The current of the river, 
striking the paddles of the big wheel, send it whirling. 
Three large nets are attached to this wheel, and the 
salmon ascending the river are caught in tliese nets, 
lifted out of the water and thrown by the revolving wheel 
into a trough by wliicli they slide into the hold of a large 
boat. The fisherman needs only to keep his wheel in 



280 



TYPE STUDIES 



working order as the current of the river does all the 
work. 

Many salmon are also taken by dip-nets and by spear- 
ing. As the salmon, therefore, starts on his long journey 
up the river he has many dangers to encounter and many 
hair-breadth escapes before he reaches tlie cold waters of 
his early home. 

At Astoria the river is nine miles wide, and the broad 
expanse is frequented during the fishing season with many 
boats. At the mouth of the river, ten miles away, the 




Fig. 97. 

Catching salmon in dip-nets as they leap over the falls on their way to the 
waters where they spawn. 



shallows are thickly set with the stakes and piles of tlie 
fishing traps. All along the lower Columbia, at intervals, 
are the large canneries where the fish are received and 
prepared for the markets of the world. 

The work of catching the salmon by the different meth- 
ods described above is in the hands of white men and 
Indians. The Portuguese, Scandinavians, Italians, and 
other Europeans, as well as Americans, carry on this work 
and deliver the fresh fish at the canneries or to large boats 
sent out to receive them. The canneries are owned by 
capitalists who can afford the money necessary for carry- 



THE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE COLUMBIA 281 

ing on a large business. But the labor of cleaning, can- 
ning, and storing tlie fish is in the hands of Chinamen, 
who are very expert. '•'' The Chinese are vastly superior 
to white labor in these monotonous, machine-tending 
operations. All day the season through they will work 
swiftly, steadily, untiringly at some minute detail of the 
work. Owing to the exclusion laws, the Chinese who are 
already in the country are becoming labor aristocrats, 
witii well-organized unions and a very distinct knowl- 
edge of their own indispensability in the canning in- 
dustry." 

The notes here presented on the present methods of 
salmon canning were taken in 1896 at a cannery on the 
Columbia River, and with few exceptions represent the 
canneries of the entire west coast. 

The buildingf^ connected with a salmon cannery are 
always built at the water's edge or partly over the Avater, 
so that vessels or boats may come alongside and deliver 
their fish and supplies or receive the packed products. 
As a rule they are large, roomy, one-story frame struc- 
tures, the business of receiving, cooking, and packing of 
salmon all being in the one large, high, and w^ell-lighted 
room. The lofts are used for the storage of empty pack- 
ing-cases, empty cans, nets, etc., and in some instances 
large rooms are there used for the manufacture of cans. 
Adjacent to tlie cannery are tlie rude quarters in which 
tlie Chinese employees live, and near by is usually the 
home of the superintendent. 

Chinese have a monopoly in the canning of salmon, but 
never engage in their capture. l>efore the season opens 
contracts are made with some hirge Chinese firm of San 
Francisco or Portland to do the work so far as relates to 



282 TYPE STUDIES 

receiving raw products and turning the same over canned, 
packed, and ready for shipment. 

As a rule the fish are bought from the fishermen at so 
much a piece or per pound, a stipulated price for the sea- 
son having previously been agreed on ; but in some cases 
the fishermen are hired by the month, with or without 
board, the fishing boats and nets, in that event, being 
furnished by the cannery. 

Contracts with the Chinese usually call for the packing 
of at least a certain number of cases, of 48 pounds each, 
at prices ranging from 30 to 40 cents a case for one-pound 
cans, and higher for half-pound, oval, or other special 
cans. 

A working gang of from thirty to seventy-five Chinese, 
in charge of a native expert foreman, is sent to the can- 
nery in advance of the opening of the season. The men 
are constantly under the orders of the Chinese foreman, and 
he in turn is under the supervision of the superintendent. 
The foreman divides up the duties, assigning a gang for 
each part of the work from the time the fish are landed until 
they are cased for shipment. These gangs follow their 
particular part of the work all through the season, only in 
exceptional cases being called to any branch except their 
own. The receiving and dressing gang, being the first to 
begin, are the first to finish their labor, while the packers 
are the last to begin and end the work of the day. If fish 
are plentiful, all of the men work from about 7 A.M. to 6 
P.M., with only a stop for the midday meal. If salmon 
are scarce, the men may have but a few hours' work. 

On the completion of the work of any gang, the men 
must, before leaving, tliorouglily clean their section ; in 
doing so a hose is used, with abundance of water, brooms, 



THE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE COLUMBIA 283 

and scrubbing-brushes ; and when the day's work is over 
the interior, phitforms, and wharves are left scrupulously 
clean and ready for the work of the following day. 

As the fishermen arrive, their catch is thrown out on 
the wharf, where it is received by the Chinese and carried 
inside the cannery and thrown into boxes on the scales. 
Having been weighed, a receipt is given to the fishermen, 
and the fish begin their journey through the cannery, that 




Fig. 98. 
Hundreds of salmon in a cannery. 



only ends after they have been canned, cooked, packed, 
and cased ready for shipment. 

After the weighing scales the fish are thrown out on the 
floor and receive their first washing from a stream of water 
that is played on them from a hose, the fish being turned 
over with a pitchfork, as may be necessary, to remove all 
gurry and dirt. In some instances, where fish are received 
faster than they can be immediately handled, they are 
kept cool and fresh by having, as needed, a fine spray of 
ice-cold water thrown over them from an overhead revolv- 
ing pipe. The first gang receive the fish on the dressing- 
tables, which are near the door. Here the first of the 



284 TYPE STUDIES 

work begins, and to follow it through from its entrance to 
its exit, canned and cased, is an interesting sight to thou- 
sands of visitors during the packing season. The first 
operator seizes fish after fish, and with a few quick strokes 
of a large butcher-knife severs head, fins, and tail. The 
next man opens the fish, removes the viscera, and scrapes 
the carcass inside and out. Through an opening in the 
floor all offal and waste are at once thrown into the river 
and quickly consumed by schools of scavenger fish or the 
large number of gulls that hover in the vicinity Avaiting 
for their food. At some of the canneries near Astoria 
receptacles for waste are provided by those interested in 
oil and fertilizer factories. 

The fish is then shoved along to the man standing by 
the side of the header and cleaner for the next washing, 
and at the same time is scraped with a knife that removes 
the scales. The fish is then passed along into a second 
tank of clear water, where it receives its final washing 
and cleaning and is made ready for cutting into proper- 
sized pieces. A series of semicircular knife-blades is 
attached to a roller, the blades being equal distances 
apart, corresponding with the size or depth of cans to be 
filled ; one end of the roller is hinged, to the other end a 
handle is attached. The knives are raised by means of 
the handle, the fish is placed under them, and with one 
quick, sharp blow the fish is entirely cut up into lengths 
suitable for canning. For one-pound tall cans, seven knives 
are attached to the roller ; for one-pound flat cans, thir- 
teen knives; for one-half-pound cans, seventeen knives. 
The fish are now in suitable lengths, but must be sliced 
into sizes proper to enter the cans ; this is quickly per- 
formed, and the pieces are passed on to the filling gang. 



TUE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE COLUMBIA 285 

Several men stand at one or both sides of the filling- 
table, each supplied with small scales adjusted to the 
weight of the cans to be filled. In some canneries cans are 
filled by machinery, but this is usually done by hand. As 
soon as filled the can is placed on the scale ; if it shows 
full or over weight, it is passed on, no fish being removed; 
but if short weight, the can is put to one side, to receive 
enough to make up the deficiency. 

The cans are passed on to a machine, which fits a top 
and solders it on, leaving a small vent-hole for air to 
escape. After being tested for leaks, the cans are brought 
into large retorts for cooking. 

The retorts are made of wood or iron, but are usually 
of boiler iron, have a round shape, and are about thirteen 
feet long and five feet in diameter. A steam-pipe ex- 
tends along near the bottom. This is perforated for the 
escape of steam, which passes through a small amount of 
water with which the pipe is covered. On an iron track 
just over the pipes the loaded cars are run. Retorts usu- 
ally have an opening, or door, at only one end; but in the 
cannery now being described there was an opening at each 
end and two retorts were used, the few feet separating 
them being connected by a track, by which cars of coolers, 
which pass through the first retort, enter the second. 
Each retort has a capacity of four cais, or 3200 one- 
pound tall cans or 2952 one-pound flat cans. Cans 
of salmon remain in the first retort under a steam 
temperature of 230° for one hour. They are then run 
out, vented, and at once resealed. As the top of each 
can is perforated with a small, sharp-pointed iron, the 
heated air or steam is expelled, and before its place can 
be taken with cold air the vent is closed by a drop of 



286 TYPE STUDIES 

solder, and the can may be said to be free of air and air- 
tight. The cans are now ready for another cooking in 
the second retort. Here the temperature is 240°, in 
which one-pound tall cans remain one hour and flat 
cans one and one-fourth hours. Retorts are under a 
steam pressure of seven to ten pounds to the square 
inch. 

On removing the cans from the retorts, they have a 
stream of cold water thrown on them, by which they are 
cooled and cleaned. They are now finally tested for leaks 
or imperfections by tapping each can on the top with a 
small piece of iron, an experienced ear quickly detecting 
by sound any imperfection. Imperfect cans are replaced 
by others, and the cans pass on to be lacquered, labelled, 
and packed in boxes, each holding forty-eight one-pound 
cans or twenty-four two-pound cans. They are then 
ready for a distribution that reaches almost every portion 
of the civilized globe. 

The cannery at which these notes were taken was pro- 
vided with electric lights and ample steam power; the 
rooms were well ventilated and lighted; its walls were 
white with paint or whitewash. It is located on the 
Columbia River with the Cascade range of mountains 
towering from fifteen hundred to twenty-five hundred 
feet just at its back. From these mountains the icy-cold 
and very pure water used at the cannery is brought. 

The salmon fisheries along the Columbia River have 
grown so rapidly since 1876, such vast numbers have 
been caught and canned, that there has been danger of 
exterminating this most useful species. Not only has the 
increase of fishermen's nets and traps made it difficult for 
the fish to reach the spawning-grounds, but the upper 



THE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE COLUMBIA 287 

streams and spawning-grounds themselves have been 
interfered with by dams and irrigating ditches. 

To protect the fishes from all these dangers and to pre- 
serve this great industry, it has been necessary for the 
governments of the Pacific states to pass laws. " The 
authorities of Oregon and Washington are much alive 
to the importance of this growing industry, and have 
appointed fish wardens to execute the laws which control 
and restrict the taking of fish, the size of the nets, the 
distance between nets, and the definite seasons set for 
fishing; the object of these laws being to permit enough 
fish to pass up the streams every year to maintain the 
spawning supply and yet to allow as large a number as 
possible to be taken." 

The beneficial influence of the government is also seen 
in another way. The habits of the salmon have been 
carefully studied by scientific experts sent out by the 
governments of the western states and of the United 
States. In many of the streams which form the head 
waters of the Columbia, fish hatcheries have been estab- 
lished. "At the various stations the native salmon are 
caught in large numbers, artificially spawned, and the eggs 
are hatched under conditions which prevent the large 
losses of the natural spawning beds and of the young fry 
after hatching. As soon as the young are capable of car- 
ing for themselves, they are 'planted' in the rivers and 
begin their journey to the sea. Millions of fry are thus 
distributed each year, thereby maintaining to a remark- 
able degree the fertility of the waters. The product of 
the different salmon hatcheries tributary to the Columbia 
River alone, including two maintained by the United 
States government, four by Oregon, and six by Wash- 



288 TYPE STUDIES 

ington, amounted in 1901 to over fifty-eight million fry" 
(^Century Magazine^ June, 1903). 

The salmon fisheries are important not only along the 
Columbia River, but even more so in Puget Sound (partly 
in British America) and in Alaska. The largest quantity 
canned and shipped is from Alaskan waters. All the 
streams flowing to the ocean from Alaska to San Fran- 
cisco are important for salmon fisheries, though the prod- 
uct of tlie California rivers is relatively smalL " About 
four-fifths of the entire catch (1901) was in American 
waters, one-fifth in Canadian, the annual product now 
being worth 120,000,000." 

Fresh salmon are shipped in large quantities to the 
eastern states, and even to London and other European 
cities. The canned salmon from the northwest are now 
found in all parts of the world. 

A comparison of the salmon fisheries with the cod fish- 
eries of Gloucester and New England, previously studied, 
will awaken considerable interest. 

References: The Century^ June, 1903. "Science Sketches" 
(Jordan). Country Life in America, June, 1903. United States 
Fish Commissioner's Reports, Vol. 104, No. 692 for 1899, pp. 264- 
292. 



Flattery^ 




200 MILES TO ONE INCH. 



Fig. <)'.). 
Map to show the location of San Francisco, Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle. 



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